


Too Hot for Comfort

by haylches



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: A surprising amount of focus on the nature of the lions, Alpha Keith (Voltron), Alpha Shiro (Voltron), Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Fluff, Hurt Lance (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, I'm Sorry, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, No Smut, Omega Lance (Voltron), Omega Verse, Platonic Relationships, Protective Keith (Voltron), Protective Shiro (Voltron), Sick Lance (Voltron), Sickfic, Stranded, Wilderness Survival, actually, i guess, keith/lance if you squint - Freeform, you could ship any of these losers if you squint hard enough
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:00:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 21,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23913457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haylches/pseuds/haylches
Summary: "We aren't going to make it, Shiro. We missed it."Shiro's heart dropped into his stomach. Keith was right, of course. There was no way they could make it that far so fast. The next opening was ten days away, and Shiro felt his stomach clench as the reality of their situation sunk in."Quiznak," Shiro muttered, drawing a hand across his face slowly. "We're stranded here."-----Shiro, Keith, and Lance wind up stranded on an alien planet, far from civilization or the reach of the team. That would be fine, except Lance has a secret that turns the whole thing up on its head. Now Keith and Shiro are just trying to do the best they can, but it's hard when they're just too hot for comfort.
Relationships: Keith & Lance (Voltron), Keith & Shiro (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron), Lance & Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 110
Kudos: 668





	1. Chapter 1

"Lance, pick up the pace!" Keith shouted over his shoulder. Shiro glanced back, disappointed to see the blue paladin at least 10 yards behind him.

The jungle was hot and muggy, and the feeling of sweat dripping down his skin was one he didn't think he could bear much longer. His heavy armor wasn't helping either, but the suits were still running a biocompatibility test and he didn't dare take off his helmet until he knew it was safe to do so.

Keith huffed in frustration ahead of him, impatience evident in every sharp movement he made. The alpha had never been particularly patient, and his short temper was on the verge of exploding.

"Not my fault you two are freaking machines," Lance shot back. He most likely meant to sound annoyed, but the breathlessness of his voice took away any sting. Keith growled.

"Just a little further," Shiro said, attempting to ease any tension between the two. He couldn't help, however, the budding impatience welling in his own chest.

They'd crash landed on the jungle planet after a surprise attack from the Galra, and had been separated from the team for two days now. All three had somehow survived the crash with no more than scratches and bruises, but they were completely stranded. Their lions had escaped the planet moments after the paladins had grouped together, leaving them alone and helpless. Shiro tried not to let it get to him too much. Obviously his lion knew something he didn't, and the abandonment had to have been necessary, but if they couldn't find a way back...

Well. It wouldn't be good.

"We only have 20 minutes," Keith reminded them. "We can't miss our window."

They'd gone over the plan a hundred times. After crash landing, they'd found that communicating with the team was nearly impossible. They could only get a signal once a day for five minutes at a time. Pidge had explained that it had something to do with the orbiting moons. Their orbit cycle made it nearly impossible for anything to come in or out of the planet, even radio signals. 

"There's only one way to get a ship in, and it's pretty tricky business," she'd explained the night before. "The cycle of the moons only leaves one gap every ten days, and it's only open for 70 ticks. You all need to get to these coordinates by the next window, which is in... seven hours." She'd paused, the only noise that of her computer monitor humming in the background. "Can you guys make it that far that fast?" 

"Of course," Shiro had said confidently. "We'll be seeing you all in seven hours."

Now he was a little less confident. He hated to admit it, but Lance really was dragging them down. It was odd, because Shiro had never thought of Lance as being weak or slow up until that point. Sure, he was arrogant and clumsy and sometimes did dumb stuff, but he'd always kept up in missions and was an amazing marksman. He'd wondered absently if it had something to do with his dynamic-- Lance was a beta, which was normally not a problem. However, Shiro had started to notice a huge difference in their levels of tolerance. He'd had never before felt inconvenienced by the blue paladin, but at that moment he couldn't help but be frustrated by the slow pace. 

"Guys," Lance panted, pausing to lean against a tree. "I--"

"We don't have time to rest, Lance!" Keith snapped, turning to face the blue paladin angrily. "It's not an option at this point." 

"I know, but--"

"Lance, Keith is right," Shiro interrupted, trying to stay calm. "We have to go  _ now _ ."

"I just--"

"NO, Lance," Shiro snapped, his patience finally wearing out in a rare display of frustration. "This is our only chance to meet the team and get the lions back. We don't have time for you to rest, regardless of how tired you are. You're holding us back, and if you can't push through for 15 more minutes, we're going to miss our chance. Am I understood?" 

Lance had remained silent during Shiro's tirade, shrinking in on himself the longer Shiro went on. He nodded soundlessly when Shiro finished, but before they could say anything more, a loud blast sounded from the nearby trees.

"You've got to be kidding me," Shiro heard Keith mutter, and then they were fighting.

It was kind of amazing the way one's instincts could develop-- the sound of blasters firing no longer even startled him. A single blast and he was ready, hand glowing menacingly at his side. In little time the three were swarmed with galra sentries, glowing purple reflecting off of their metal plating. Shiro dropped into a fighting stance, feeling a little grateful for once that he hadn't taken off his armor. 

The galra drones had to have followed their tracks from the crash site, Shiro mused as he fought. It couldn't have been difficult-- they'd been trying for speed, after all, not stealth. It was a miracle they'd even made it as far as they did.

"Shiro, cover my left!" Keith shouted, his sword whistling through the air. Shiro turned to see the red paladin nearly surrounded by galra drones. He sliced his way through the few bots around him until he was at Keith's side, galra drones closing in. The rythmic sound of Lance's blaster firing reassured him that the blue paladin was ok, although he couldn't see him over the hordes of galra. He frowned. Why were there so  _ many _ of them?

"We have to leave  _ now _ ," Keith growled, slicing clean through a robot's head. Shiro grimaced, noting the time. Thirteen minutes, and still half a mile to go. 

"We can make it," Shiro replied, voice full of a confidence he wasn't sure he felt.

"Duck," Keith said in response. Shiro dropped down into a squat, the sound of Keith's sword whistling through the air above him following a mere breath later. Galra drones dropped at his feet, and Shiro was already moving, his galra arm heavy and hot at his side. Keith didn't say another word, but the two danced through the galra as if they could read one another's minds. Every move Shiro made, Keith was following to cover him, and when one moved forward, the other moved back. It was as beautiful as it was ugly, and Shiro let himself get lost in the task at hand. There were no thoughts of Voltron, of their hopeless race to meet the team, of Zarkon plotting somewhere far away. Just the sound of his breath echoing in his helmet and the feeling of metal melting at his touch. It was moments like these, in whatever wretched situation they found themselves in, that he felt the most free. 

"Shiro," came Keith's voice, a hand resting lightly on his shoulder. Shiro blinked, suddenly snapping to. Keith stood at his side, his hand gripping Shiro's shoulder like an anchor. They were surrounded by a graveyard of metal, galra drones carpeting the jungle floor. Shiro was still crouched in a fighting stance, and his hand glowed a deadly purple at his side. 

"You can relax now, Shiro," Keith said, patting his arm. Shiro immediately relaxed his stance, drawing himself to his full height. His hand faded back to silver and he cleared his throat uncomfortably. 

"Thanks," he said. Keith shrugged.

"Don't sweat it."

Shiro's attention was suddenly drawn to the ticking clock on his helmet visor.

"Quiznak! Keith, we have to go! We only have six minutes before the team..." He stopped. Keith was shaking his head slowly, lips drawn into a scowl.

"We aren't going to make it, Shiro. We missed it."

Shiro's heart dropped into his stomach. Keith was right, of course. There was no way they could make it that far so fast. The next opening was ten days away, and Shiro felt his stomach clench as the reality of their situation sunk in. 

"Quiznak," Shiro muttered, drawing a hand across his face slowly. "We're stranded here."

Keith said nothing, his arms crossed tightly across his chest. They stood in silence for a long moment, contemplating the days to come. Shiro was in the middle of brainstorming ways to build a shelter when he heard a loud crunch behind him.

Shiro whipped around, hand already glowing as he scanned the trees for the source of the sound. There were no galra drones, and he paused in confusion a moment before he saw a flash of blue among the shrubbery. His stomach lurched.

" _ Lance _ !" Shiro called, scrambling to climb over the piles of galra drones. How he'd managed to forget about the blue paladin, he had no idea. "Lance, are you ok?"

There was no reply. As Shiro drew closer he could make out more details. Lance was slumped at the base of a wide tree, his bayard clenched tightly in a white-knuckle grip. He flinched as Shiro approached him, and Shiro could see his chest heaving.

"Lance, what's wrong?" Shiro demanded, dropping to the blue paladin's side. "Are you hurt?" Vaguely he could hear Keith stepping behind him, the sound of footsteps pausing a slight distance away.

"Shiro," Lance panted, his voice thin. "I wanted-- I tried--"

"What?" Shiro probed, inching closer. His eyes raked over Lance's body, but there were no apparent wounds.

"I tried telling you," Lance finished. He was shaking all over. Shiro felt a rising wave of panic, his mind racing a million miles an hour.

"What happened?" Keith asked, slowly moving to stand at Shiro's side. He was uncharacteristically timid, his voice betraying a sincere concern for the beta.

"I... I'm not sure," Shiro replied. "We need to check for a wound." He pressed a button on his visor, the biocompatibility test appearing on the screen. The test had come back unsure. As far as the armor could tell, it was 84% likely that they would be able to breathe on the planet without space gear. Shiro frowned. Not a high enough percentage to risk Lance's life, but with his own...

It would have to be enough.

Shiro reached up to his helmet, taking a deep breath before pulling it off in one jerky motion. He was immediately bombarded by a wave of heat, the jungle air wet and sticky on his face. The breeze was all but non-existent, but it still felt better than the stale air of his paladin armor.

Shiro took a tentative breath. The air was thick and muggy, but breathable. They were lucky-- the planet was probably one of the few that he'd encountered that had a high enough oxygen level for human survival.

"The air's breathable," Shiro said with relief. It felt freeing to be speaking into the air instead of the close confines of his helmet. 

Keith took off his own helmet, his long hair sticking to his face and neck. He dropped into a squat at Shiro's side, face screwed up in concern. As much as Keith tried to hide it, Shiro knew he cared for the blue paladin. Keith had always been pretty bad at showing emotion or vulnerability, but in this moment his emotions were getting the better of his self control. 

Lance's breath suddenly hitched, his face contorting, and Shiro snapped his attention back to the matter at hand. 

"Lance, we're going to get you fixed up, ok? We're going to take off your armor now to see what's wrong." Shiro reached towards Lance's helmet, but he jerked back violently. His eyes were glazed and frightened, and his chest heaved with every loud breath.

"NO, Shiro, you can't," he panted. "Alpha... can't... not now."

Shiro blinked in confusion, glancing up to see Keith looking equally bewildered.

"Lance, we're just going to check you for injuries," Shiro pressed. Lance seemed to be barely hanging on to consciousness, his eyelids fluttering at every blink. Still, he managed to pull even further away, shaking his head dizzily. 

"Just do it, Shiro," Keith demanded, his voice tight with concern. "He barely knows what's going on."

Shiro grimaced, still hesitant to do anything against Lance's will. He had just opened his mouth to say so when Lance suddenly spasmed violently, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. 

"Shiro!" Keith shouted in alarm, his voice high and frightened. Shiro didn't hesitate a moment longer. They needed to figure out what was wrong immediately.

Shiro grasped Lance's helmet in his hands, finding the small release mechanism and pushing down. The helmet hissed as air flooded out, and Shiro pulled it off in one smooth motion. He was about to move on to the rest of the armor when Keith suddenly jerked back, gasping sharply. 

Shiro was immediately on the defensive, whirling to find the source of Keith's alarm. He scanned the forestry fruitlessly for a moment before turning to look at Keith in confusion.

The red paladin was as pale as a sheet, his eyes wide and panicked. His gaze, however, wasn't on a galra drone or a jungle animal, but rather was frozen to Lance's quivering figure. 

"What's wrong?" Shiro asked, searching fruitlessly for the source of Keith's alarm. Keith took a single step backwards, a million expressions crossing his face. 

"Keith, what's wrong?" Shiro repeated, more insistently this time. Keith finally tore his gaze from the blue paladin, turning to look at Shiro with wide, frightened eyes.

"He... You... You mean you can't smell it?" he asked, panic mixing with confusion in his dark eyes. Shiro blinked, taken aback. 

"Smell what?"

"Shiro, he's... Lance is in heat. He's an omega." 

Shiro felt his blood turn cold, his entire body freezing in disbelief. 

Lance... an omega? 

It wasn't possible. Omega's weren't permitted to attend the Garrison, for one, and besides that, they'd known Lance for months and he couldn't have possibly hidden something so... big. Lance was a goofball, a cocky know-it-all. It just didn't make sense.

At the same time he was desperately trying to deny it, Shiro's rational brain was putting the pieces together. Lance had been slower and weaker that day, which would only make sense if he'd been pushing against an oncoming heat. He was always playful and caring and touchy, and forever tried to be the peacemaker of the team. He was beautiful and soft, but also very sure of himself. Shiro had seen him be merciless when necessary. And now, stranded on a jungle planet, Lance certainly looked like an omega in heat. His face was covered in sweat and he was breathing hard-- panting, really. 

Shiro took a shaky breath. Lance was an omega in heat, and Shiro and Keith were both unmated alphas stuck with him on a planet for ten more days. 

Their odds were looking slimmer and slimmer every minute.

Keith took another terrified step back, and Shiro snapped his attention back to the matter at hand.

"Ok. Here's what we're going to do," he said, his voice coming out more certain than he felt. "I'm going to stay here with Lance. I can't smell him anyways, so I'll be able to take care of him without getting distracted. Keith, I need you to find a shelter. A cave or fallen tree or something that we can hide out in until the team comes to get us. Ok?" 

Keith was still frozen in place, but he managed to draw his gaze to Shiro's face, eyebrows drawn in confusion.

"What do you mean you can't smell?" he asked. Shiro almost wanted to laugh. Of course Keith would focus on a detail so unimportant when there was so much more that needed taken care of.

"Galra," Shiro responded shortly, pointing to the long scar across the bridge of his nose. Keith frowned, about to open his mouth to reply, but Shiro interrupted him quickly.

"A shelter, Keith," he pleaded. "Please."

Keith, fortunately, got the message. He backed away slowly at first, uncertainly, and then broke into a run. Shiro watched him disappear into the foliage, listening until he could no longer hear his footsteps. Then he turned back to Lance, his lips pursed.

This was an issue he'd never once thought he'd have to deal with. And Shiro was a worrywart, so that was saying something. There was a reason omegas weren't accepted at the Garrison-- situations like this could arise, but around alphas with much less self-control. Shiro, fortunately, couldn't smell Lance's heat, although he suspected it would offer him little temptation even if he  _ could _ smell. He thought of Lance as his kid brother-- his only instincts at this point were just to make sure Lance was safe. He couldn't speak for Keith, though, which was why he sent him away. Better to take precautions than to let the unthinkable happen. 

Shiro slowly lowered himself to Lance's level, gently placing a hand on his forehead. It was burning hot.

"Lance, buddy, are you in there?"

Lance's eyelids fluttered, his eyebrows screwing together.

"Shiro?" he mumbled, his eyes opening a bare sliver.

"Yeah, it's me. How are you feeling, kiddo?" he asked gently. Lance's eyes slid closed, a tiny puff of air escaping his lips.

"Not too good," he finally said, his voice thin.

"Yeah, you don't look too good," Shiro replied, trying for light-heartedness. Lance, however, gave no reaction. It seemed to take all his energy just to open his eyes and speak even the few words he'd already said. Shiro frowned in concern. He really had no experience with omegas in heat, but from what he'd learned in school, this didn't seem exactly normal. 

"Ok Lance, I think we ought to get this armor off of you," he said, brushing his hand back through Lance's sweaty mop of hair. Lance's eyes slid open again, the smallest flash of blue visible beneath his thick lashes. 

"Shiro..." Lance started, his gaze slowly flickering up to rest on Shiro's face. "I'm in heat."

Shiro would have laughed if not for the sorrow and shame that was so nakedly obvious in Lance's voice. Instead, he smiled softly, brushing his fingers through Lance's hair again. 

"I know, buddy. Don't worry. We're going to be down here a few more days, so we're just going to have to tough it out. Ok?"

Lance nodded, the motion so small that Shiro would have missed it if he hadn't been looking closely. Lance closed his eyes again, all his energy seemingly sapped from their short conversation. Shiro watched him with concern for a moment, his eyes following the movement of Lance's chest as if afraid it was suddenly going to stop. He almost moved to start on Lance's armor, but then thought better of it. If they took it all off now, they'd have to find a way to carry it all with them to their new shelter, wherever that may be. No, better to wait and take it all off when they were properly settled.

In the meantime, Shiro figured he could at least help the kid get as comfortable as possible. Slowly, he sat himself down on the forest floor, rearranging Lance's limp form until he was flat on the ground, his head pillowed on Shiro's thigh. 

Lance didn't move once throughout the entire ordeal, other than the quick and uneven hitching of his chest as he breathed. He was like putty in Shiro's hands, completely limp and compliant as Shiro tried to help him get comfortable. 

They stayed like that for a long time, the only sounds those of small animals in the shrubbery and Lance's halting breath. Shiro continued to run his fingers through Lance's hair, the motion more for his benefit than Lance's at that point. Lance's forehead was still burning hot beneath his fingers, and he once again found himself questioning the normality of the situation.

He'd never been around an omega in heat before. His parents were both alphas, and his little sister still hadn't presented when he'd left earth. There were no omegas at the Garrison, and before that he'd only attended private alpha schools. In short, the basis of his understanding came directly from his high school health class, and he couldn't say he'd paid much attention to omega biology. 

Still, what he remembered learning about omega heats didn't really add up with what Lance was experiencing. He'd thought it was supposed to be more... pleasurable, at least. And the flush to Lance's cheeks was far from enticing-- he just looked sick and weak. Shiro wished he could smell-- in that moment, it could have been helpful. Lance's scent may be saying something the blue paladin couldn't. 

Shiro's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of movement to his left. He remained frozen a moment, listening, then relaxed as Keith emerged from amongst the shrubbery. 

"Did you find anything?" Shiro asked, his voice soft. Keith hesitated a few yards away, eyes flickering back and forth between Shiro and Lance's prone figure sprawled across his lap.

"Yeah," Keith said, crossing his arms. Shiro knew he did that when he was uncomfortable. "There's a cave not too far from here. It's right next to a spring of water, so it should be perfect."

Shiro grinned. "Good work, Keith."

Keith softened slightly, nodding minutely to accept the praise. Shiro had learned early on that Keith was almost desperate for recognition-- to feel valued and wanted. Shiro was happy to oblige. He  _ did _ value and want Keith on their team, so the encouragement came naturally. He supposed uplifting his teammates came as part of being the leader.

"How's he doing?" Keith asked, concern once again bleeding through into his voice. Shiro grimaced, glancing down at Lance's limp form. 

"Not too good," he replied quietly. "I don't know the first thing about heats, but this doesn't seem… right." 

"What do you mean?" Keith asked, looking confused. 

"He's really hot, for one--" Shiro began, but Keith interrupted him with a scowl. 

"Well it is called a  _ heat _ , Shiro."

"Yes, I know. But he seems more sick than anything. What does he smell like to you?" 

Keith immediately tensed up, looking very much like he wanted to be anywhere but there. 

"I-- Well, like an omega in heat," he finally bit out, looking flushed and uncomfortable. Shiro mentally sighed. Keith could be so… difficult about these things.

"Yes, but is there anything off about it? Any bitterness?"

"I don't know, Shiro. I don't even know what Lance smells like normally," Keith said, throwing his hands up in frustration. "I'm not some kind of scent doctor."

"I didn't say you were," Shiro said patiently, somehow managing to not roll his eyes. "But even if you don't know Lance's natural scent, you should still be able to sense if he's distressed. Think about it. What are your instincts telling you to do right now?"

"Nothing," Keith bit back, somehow tensing even further. 

"Keith, you're an alpha and Lance is an omega in heat. At the very least I'd expect for there to be some kind of protective instinct coming up," Shiro said patiently. "It's normal to feel like you want to help him." 

Keith scowled, eyes darting away to glare at an unassuming patch of moss. Shiro waited, letting Keith mull over what he'd said. He'd never wanted his smell back as much as he did now.

"He smells sour," Keith finally said, breaking the silence. His eyes remained glued to the forest floor, and Shiro could see his jaw clench and unclench. "I don't know how to help him and it's freaking me out."

Shiro sighed, relieved. At least he didn't need to worry about Keith trying to jump the poor boy, at least not right then. 

"That's ok, Keith. Honestly, I don't know if I know how to help him either." Keith glanced up at him, looking like Shiro's words were really not that helpful. "But we're going to figure it out. First, we need to get Lance to that shelter you found. Do you know how to get back?"

Keith nodded, eyes flickering down to Lance's unconscious figure. "He's going to be too heavy for you to carry."

Shiro shrugged, smiling a little. "I'll be ok. Lance is all skin and bones. And if I get too tired, I'll just give you a turn."

Keith looked like he wanted to faint at the very idea, but Shiro just chuckled. Keith would be alright. And Shiro would be there to make sure everything went smoothly. He trusted Keith, and he knew that Lance trusted him too. It was just a matter of getting Keith to trust himself.

What could possibly go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Hope you all enjoy the beginnings of yet another omegaverse fic :) I hope to update somewhat regularly, but seriously let me know how I'm doing! All comments and kudos are appreciated :) xoxox thx


	2. Chapter 2

Everything was going very, very wrong. 

Keith forced himself to wrestle his mind-numbing panic down, locking it into what must have been the mental equivalent of a headlock. It was all he could do to keep his expression neutral and movements fluid, vainly hoping that Shiro couldn't see right through his shoddy facade. At least Shiro wouldn't be able to smell his panic.

And that was a thought Keith immediately felt guilty for. He'd only just learned about yet another handicap the galra had forced upon his adopted brother and he was already finding ways to take advantage of it. Keith found himself looking over his shoulder expecting some kind of reprimand for the unbidden thought, although none came seeing how Shiro obviously couldn't read his mind. Strange, seeing how the alpha always seemed to know exactly what he was thinking. 

Shiro seemed oblivious to Keith's spiraling panic, however. His face was flushed red with exertion as they made their way through the thick greenery. Lance was draped over his back, hands clutching weakly at Shiro's broad shoulders. He occasionally whimpered quietly, sending Keith's panic into an even stronger frenzy that left him barely able to hold onto it, let alone put it in a headlock. The only thing keeping him from running to Lance's side was his dwindling pride and battered self-control. That, and the knowledge that he was helping to get the omega-- _omega_ \-- somewhere safe. 

Ah yes, and that was the real kicker, Keith thought hysterically as he swung his bayard through vines with reckless abandon. Lance was an omega and he _hadn't even told anyone_. 

Scratch that. 

Hadn't even told _Keith._

Or Shiro, which was at least a small comfort against the smothering press of betrayal he felt (cue guilty look backwards). Keith supposed he really didn't know how many of his teammates knew about Lance's.... uh, _condition_ , but regardless, the knowledge had been kept from him and he was taking it personally. 

What had he ever done to make Lance not trust him? He knew their attitudes towards each other had always been tolerant at best, downright aggressive at worst. But that didn't stop them from working as a team. From putting full confidence in one another as they fought, to relying on the other to pull them out of any sticky situation _(we really are a good team)._

So _why_ did Lance _ever_ feel the need to _lie_ to him???

"Lie to _us_ ," Shiro corrected, and Keith suddenly realized he'd spoken aloud. "I don't think he meant it personally, Keith." Keith started at the words, trying to figure out if he'd spoken that particular piece aloud or if Shiro was simply using his big-brother jedi tricks to once again nail his spiraling thoughts right on the head.

"Shiro, I don't know how you could _not_ take this personally," Keith hissed, and somehow his voice didn't even crack. "He's been lying to us for months! We could have prevented this-- found space suppressants or something, but no! Lance had to go and play hero, trying to ignore his problems and sacrifice himself for the sake of convenience, and look how that worked out for him! It's just-- unbelievable!" Keith took a deep breath, tears clustering in the corners of his eyes. He resisted the urge to swipe them away, knowing Shiro would be able to tell just how close he was teetering on the edge of a full-blown meltdown if he showed any sign of weakness. 

"I don't know what led him to hide this from us, but I know that I trust him," Shiro replied, voice calm and warm. Keith could almost imagine they were chatting in Shiro's comfortable living room, plush cushions and warm blankets piled haphazardly around the space. In fact, he had to blink hard to be totally sure where it was they were having this conversation, and although he expected it he was still disappointed when nothing but green greeted his vision. He sighed. Really, he had no reason to be angry at Lance. Shiro was right. He didn't even know why Lance had made the decisions he did. 

His thoughts were interrupted as Lance suddenly gave a choked off gasp, and Keith wheeled around to see the paladin tighten his grip across Shiro's shoulder, scent spiking dizzyingly in distress. Keith froze, his instincts screaming against his pounding headache, and he clenched his fists and jaw stubbornly to keep himself in place. 

"Lance?" Shiro said worriedly, shifting to try to glimpse the omega's expression. Lance whined again, and Keith felt sweat bead on his forehead. 

No. He could control himself. 

"Keith, how much further is the cave?" Shiro said, his voice strained but soothing. Keith tore his gaze away from Lance's shaking form, quickly taking stock of their surroundings. 

"Not far. Maybe another 50 meters."

Shiro nodded, shifting Lance a little on his back and taking another step forward. Lance's whines suddenly shifted into something different-- louder, more consistent, hitched and straining and—

Oh.

Lance was crying. 

"Keith?" Shiro said, staring at him with a simeoultaneously puzzled and panicked expression. Keith blinked, realizing his close proximity. He had to have moved towards them without even realizing it. 

"Shiro-- I don't-- Lance is--" Keith cut himself off with a grunt of frustration. He couldn't seem to get his mouth to work with him. Shiro looked at him strangely for a moment, then an expression of understanding briefly crossed his face. 

"Keith, is it his scent? Is it strong?" 

Keith couldn't do anything but nod. Because yes, Lance's scent was very strong and very overwhelming and very sour. So sour he couldn't tell what it was supposed to smell like in the first place. And now Lance was crying, which just dug the knife in deeper. It was making him feel sick and every part of him was straining to get to Lance and make him feel better. 

"Ok," Shiro said, voice low and calming. It was the same tone he'd used on the strays living behind his apartment complex back on earth. "You want to help Lance, right?" he asked. Keith nodded stiffly. Duh. Shiro already knew that. "Then keep going. We have to get to that shelter. I think it's going to rain."

Keith looked up, surprised to see windows of dark grey in the foliage above. He hadn't even noticed. 

"Ok," he finally said, his voice coming out smaller than he intended. He stepped forward, his instincts screaming at him in confusion as he walked _away_ from the scent of omega; the scent of _Lance_. He grit his teeth. These were going to be ten longs days.

  
*

  
They made it to the cave. 

The rain had started only 10 meters away from the cave, forcing them to jog/trip/stumble their way through the alien jungle trees. They still got soaked.   
Lance had switched from burning hot to freezing cold, making Keith panic even more. His wrenching sobs had softened, and Keith somehow knew that it was because he didn't have the strength to cry anymore. Normally dark skin was tinged blue and Lance's teeth chattered so hard Keith worried they'd jump right out of his mouth, and if that wasn't enough, his scent had gone from dizzyingly strong to sickeningly faint. Keith would have felt relieved if it didn't make him so worried.   
"Keith, we need to warm him up. Take off your armor," Shiro said, voice clipped with barely concealed panic. Shiro already had started on Lance's armor, tossing it on the floor and stripping the blue paladin down to his black flight suit. 

Keith almost argued, because this was _Lance_ and it was just weird to do something like this without permission, and he was an _omega_ and Keith was an _alpha_ , and Lance already hated him to begin with. One look at Lance's shaking frame, however, made the words die in his throat. 

He stripped off his armor. 

Shiro dropped to his knees at Lance's side, pulling him into his lap almost frantically. He wrapped him in a huge hug, laying Lance's head back against his chest and wrapping his arms across his chest. 

Keith finished with his armor and looked at the two hesitantly. He really sucked at this kind of thing. 

"Lay on top of him, Keith," Shiro said, luckily reading into Keith's hesitation. "Keep his front warm."

For once Keith knew that this wasn't the time or place for him to worry about his own discomfort. Without further ado, he tucked himself in between Shiro's spread legs, lowering himself to rest on Lance's lap and tucking his head under Lance's chin. The omega was so, so cold, making Keith shiver involuntarily as their skin touched. His scent was barely discernable, especially with the strong scent of Shiro's panic clouding the air. It made Keith's heart beat faster and his head spiral with fear.

"Shiro," he whispered. "What is this? What's wrong with him?"

He felt Shiro readjust, clutching Lance closer to him. 

"I don't know," Shiro said, the admission hanging heavy in the air. "I don't... I don't know anything about heats. Something's wrong, though."

Keith huffed, snuggling closer. He thought it might be helping a little. At least Lance didn't feel as cold as he had at first. 

"Do you think it's because we pushed him too hard?" Keith asked, his voice small.

"He kept wanting to stop and rest and we... I was so mean to him. I didn't know." 

"It's not your fault, Keith," Shiro reassured him. "You didn't know. All we can do now is wait and hope this works."

Keith pressed his lips together tightly, closing his eyes and listening to Lance's pulse beneath his ear. They laid like that for hours, and Keith was almost asleep when Lance finally shifted beneath him, a weak sob making Keith's head jump on his chest. 

Keith jolted up to look at Lance's tear-stricken face. 

"Lance," he said, scrambling to sit upright in order to get a good look at him. He seemed to have warmed up considerably, judging by the somewhat healthier looking tan skin that was still just a little too pale for Keith's liking. "Lance, are you awake? Can you hear me?"

Lance's eyes fluttered just barely, and Shiro took to rubbing Lance's arms in an attempt to warm him even more. The omega rolled his head to the side, eyelids fluttering again before Lance's eyes finally peeled open in the barest of slivers. 

"Lance!" Keith exclaimed, followed by Shiro's relieved "Hey, buddy."

Lance turned his head, obviously struggling to keep it upright, and his gaze landed on Keith. 

"Alpha," he mumbled, eyes blinking heavily. 

"Yeah, it's me. Keith." Keith hesitated before reaching out to grab Lance's hand.

"It'll be ok. You're ok. Do you know what's happening to you?"

Lance gave one long, slow blink. "Heat sick," he said, his words coming out a little slurred. Shiro stiffened, and Keith glanced up to make brief eye contact with the black paladin. His own terror was mirrored in the alpha's eyes. 

"Hurts," Lance choked out, eyes screwing shut as tears began to flow in earnest. "Alpha." 

"Lance, it's ok. You're ok, kiddo," Shiro said, clutching Lance tighter. Lance whined weakly. "We're going to figure this out. Don't worry."

Shiro looked up at Keith grimly, and Keith frowned. Neither of them had any idea what to do. It's not like they could just Google it. Even if they had access to the castle's system, Keith doubted they'd find any data on human dynamics. They needed to talk to a human. 

Oh. Oh!

"Shiro, what time is it?"

Shiro looked at him strangely. "What? Why?"

"We need to call the team," Keith replied, feeling a flicker of hope. "They might know how to help Lance."

Shiro's eyes lit with understanding, and he reached out for his helmet, shoving it over his head unceremoniously. 

"It's 7:36 castle time," Shiro said, letting out a breath of relief. "Just in time."  
Keith felt a heavy weight lift off his chest. They'd only have five minutes, but hopefully that would be enough to get the answers they needed. 

Keith pulled his own helmet onto his head, reaching up to turn on the comms. It was static for a moment, but then the sound of Pidge's voice came through in chopped pieces.

"--ance... In... Keith, Sh--... Come--"

"Pidge, do you read us?" Shiro said, holding himself frozen in place. 

"Shiro, we...you. Do you copy?"

"We copy," Keith replied, meeting eyes with Shiro as they listened to the static crackle of the comms. 

"Good," came Pidge's voice again, sounding relieved. "What happened? Are you ok? We showed up at the drop spot but you weren't there."

Keith blinked. Oh yeah. With all that had happened with Lance, he'd somehow forgotten that the team was supposed to come get them. They must have come down to the planet only to find that their friends weren't there. Keith winced. That must have been terrifying. He was suddenly glad that he was down here on this mission, because if he'd been up with the others he probably would have gone in guns blazing and gotten them all killed. 

"There was an incident," Shiro said, shifting Lance's body a little so he wouldn't be crushed between their helmets. He seemed to have fallen unconscious again, seeing how he didn't react to the movement outside of a small hitch in his breathing. "Galra patrols caught up to us. We had to fight them off and missed our chance."

Shiro didn't mention anything about Lance slowing them down, and Keith didn't either. They realized now that it wasn't Lance's fault anyways. 

"Quiznak," Pidge growled. "Did you take them out?"

"Of course, Pidge," Keith said, grinning a little. "Who do you think we are?" 

She scoffed, and Keith was sure she was rolling her eyes. "I know exactly who you are. That's why I asked. Lance, you have a terrible track record buddy, so please try to keep your bad luck to a minimum for the next ten days."

Keith pressed his lips together, sharing a look with Shiro. There was uncomfortable pause. 

"Actually Pidge, Lance isn't doing too good right now," Shiro said, sounding pained. "We need your help."

"What? What happened?" she demanded, all humor vanishing from her tone. 

"Lance... Well, turns out he's an omega," Shiro said with a wince. Keith felt the same notion, cringing at having to reveal Lance's secret like this. 

"Oh." Pidge sounded totally taken aback. "I didn't... Oh. What's... What happened?" 

"He went into heat," Shiro explained, ignoring her sharp intake of breath. "Something's wrong, though. He's all but delirious, and his temperature dropped dramatically as we were trying to find shelter. Right now we're trying to warm him up, but he's really not doing well. We think he might be heat sick?" 

Pidge was quiet for a moment. "Ok. That's... Not good. How long has he been like that?"

"It first started maybe... two hour ago? He's been cold for maybe one."

"Ok," Pidge said. "Um. I'm really not that experienced with omega stuff. Hey, does anyone know anything about heat sickness?" she called, words most likely directed towards the rest of the team. There was a moment of silence while Keith and Shiro waited, anxiously frozen in restless silence as Lance lay unmoving between them. Keith tried not to let himself panic, once again shoving his anxiety into an unforgiving headlock. He checked the time. Only two more minutes with the team. 

"Keith, Shiro, do you copy?" Hunk's voice came through the comms, panic lacing his tone. 

"Yes, we copy," Shiro replied, sitting up a little straighter. 

"Ok, so my mom is an omega and she got heat sick once. I don't have a lot of time to explain it all, but first off you need to warm him up however you can. I'm guessing he was on suppressants, 'cause he never went into heat at the Garrison either. That means this is super dangerous."

Keith and Shiro shared a worried glance. 

"Once he's warmed up you'll need to jumpstart his cycle," Hunk continued before pausing uncomfortably. "Uh, that means he'll need some kind of, um, stimulus. Of some sort. After that it should be a regular heat, and he'll need food and water and stuff like that. Does that make sense?" 

"Yes. Thank you, Hunk," Shiro said gravely. Keith, on the other hand, could feel his face flushing scarlet in mortification. They were going to have to do WHAT?

"Guys, I know you're both really good people, but like... Please don't mess this up," Hunk's voice was more serious than Keith had ever heard it. "Lance is my best friend, and if you hurt him... Well, I don't think I'd be able to forgive you. He needs your help, but you can't take advantage of him like this."

"We won't," Shiro promised, meeting eyes with Keith. "You have my word."

Hunk sighed in relief. "Ok. Don't...he'll need to...water--."

"Hunk, you're breaking up," Keith said, brow furrowed. "We'll talk again tomorrow."  
Hunk said something garbled in reply, and then their line became nothing but static. 

Keith pulled off his helmet, dropping his head against Lance's chest again.

"This is terrible," he said, voice muffled against Lance's black flight suit. Shiro sighed, lifting a hand to rest on Keith's back. 

"Yeah. But it'll be ok. He's warming up, so he'll be back to the obnoxious loud-mouth we all know and love in no time."

Keith huffed out a laugh, burrowing deeper against Lance's still figure. His scent was starting to get stronger, which was both good and bad. Keith wasn't sure he'd be able to handle being around the omega once his heat started in earnest. That, however, was a problem for Future Keith. Right now, he would do everything he could to warm Lance up and get him through this hell-heat. 

Nodding to himself, he let his eyelids grow heavy. When he woke, they'd need to find food, get water, and... kickstart Lance's cycle, but for now he allowed himself to relax. 

He'd get through this. They'd be ok. Lance would be alright. 

He let his mind go silent, and then he slept. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holllaaa. I'm back! So I started work doing sales, and I've been super busy working 10am-8pm 6 days a week haha. I'll keep updating the best I can, but I'm defs more pressed for time. Plz leave comments and kudos, love you all xoxo and thanks!!


	3. Chapter 3

Lance had probably never felt this bad in his life. 

And no, he wasn’t exaggerating. This was worse than the time he fell off their two story balcony. Worse than the time he went into heat for the very first time in front of his entire class. Worse even than when he had the flu and pneumonia back-to-back and was sick for a month because he refused to go to the doctor’s.

In short, Lance was in a bad way. 

Vaguely, he was aware that there were other people around him. Movements and sounds that didn’t really make any sense, but filtered through his hazy mind anyways. He felt so  _ cold,  _ like his blood had been replaced by ice, and he just wanted to curl up in a miserable heap and disappear. He would have, too, but even a motion as simple as moving his pinky finger proved to be beyond his capabilities. He was just so  _ cold _ . 

Amongst all the other warring sensations, Lance was also dimly aware of the unmistakable scent of alpha. It was pleasant, he supposed, although strange because he could never quite pick it out. Sometimes it was as if there were two scents mingling together, and other times it was almost impossible to tell there was a scent at all. It kept changing, too, ranging from panicked to soothing to aroused to angry, and he honestly could not figure out what this alpha was feeling at any given moment. It was beyond confusing, but at least he had someone there with him. Everything ached and his head was so light and he felt like crying because he’d NEVER felt so miserable. 

He knew he was heat sick. Even with his mind as muddled as it was, he was able to pick out the symptoms easily. The warning signs had been drilled into his head, repeated every time he picked up a new prescription and every time he went home for the weekend. He knew what was happening to him, but that didn’t make it any better. If anything, he felt worse because the only person he could blame was himself. It was his choice to go on suppressants, his choice to use them for years instead of stopping after the recommended six-month limit, his choice to keep his dynamic a secret from the team and ignore the building pressure that he knew was going to blow up in his face eventually. All his choice, and look where it got him.

Ugh, he felt like crap.

“Lance,” someone said, the voice distorted and muffled. He could not for the life of him pinpoint who’s voice that was. “You awake?”

Lance tried to answer. He wasn’t sure if he had been successful, but he felt something like a breath of air puff against his face. It was warm and nice and he wanted to lean towards it but his stupid body wouldn’t budge. 

“Hey, it’s ok. Don’t worry. I’m right here.”

He felt himself relax a bit at the words. His entire body was still frozen and aching and sending sharp shooting jolts of pain throughout every inch of him, but at least there was someone here with him. At least he wasn’t totally alone. 

“Lance, I need you to listen, ok? I need an answer. Can you hear me?”

Lance wrestled with his body for a moment before his eyes finally cracked open, rewarding him with a blurry view of his surroundings. There were a lot of… rocks? Basically that’s all he could really see from his vantage point. He was laying down, propped up against something firm and warm and… moving?

“Hey, buddy,” the voice said fondly. Breath puffed against his ear again.

“Alpha?” he said groggily, because after a moment to blink blearily he’d once again noted the strong scent of alpha radiating from behind him. 

“Yeah, it’s Shiro,” the alpha— _ Shiro, of course it was Shiro— _ said softly. 

“Oh,” Lance replied, blinking hard in a vain attempt to clear his vision. His head felt like it was full of cotton.

“Lance, do you remember what happened?”

“I, um…” Lance furrowed his brows. Thinking was so hard. “My heat. Heat sick.” 

“Yup,” Shiro confirmed, sounding relieved and concerned all at the same time. How did he even do that? “We need to kickstart your cycle, bud.”

Ah. He felt an odd, detached sense of embarrassment at that. 

“Can’t… can’t move,” he said, trying to shift. Move a finger. Anything. He was rewarded for his efforts when his arm twitched on his chest and his head jerked a bit in place. Progress. 

“That’s ok, don’t worry,” Shiro said softly. A hand reached up and carded through his hair. “Do you know what I mean when I say ‘kickstart?’”

“Mhm.” Lance managed to move his head in something resembling a nod.

“Ok. Is it alright if I help? I won’t touch you anywhere, uh, private.” Lance swallowed hard. There was that detached sense of embarrassment again. 

“Yeah,” he finally said, giving another jerky nod. 

“Ok,” Shiro said. His voice was low and soothing, but he smelled... nervous. Uncomfortable. Lance frowned.

“Shiro…” he said. His mouth felt slow and numb. “You don’t have to.” The scent sharpened in surprise before dulling to a mix of fondness and guilt.

“I want to help, Lance. I am doing this completely consensually. Besides, I’m not the one you should be worrying about here.”

Lance didn’t respond to that, too exhausted to argue his case any further. Shiro huffed out a breath behind him, and Lance jerked a little in surprise when Shiro pushed him forward until he was in a sort-of seated position, body slumped against Shiro’s arm. Warm fingers pulled down the zipper of his flight suit, exposing his back to the frigid air. Lance shuddered. 

“I’m just going to pull this down to your waist, ok?” 

Lance nodded again. It was about all he could do, seeing how his energy was trickling away as if he were trying to hold onto something as unsubstantial as water. 

His mind dazedly followed along, his vision a few seconds behind. He watched as if it was someone else's body as Shiro pulled his suit off his arms and down to his waist, leaving him bare from the hips up. Shivers wracked his body in protest against the cold air, but the feeling immediately subsided as warm hands pressed against his bare skin. 

And  _ oh.  _

It was… wow. The difference between the cold he felt before and the warmth that was enveloping him now was so extreme he got whiplash. Shiro wasn’t really even doing much, just sliding his hands up and down Lance’s torso, but he felt his eyes roll back into his head from the sensation. 

“Ngh,” he said (moaned) intelligibly. And wow, he wanted to be embarrassed at how he was reacting, but it felt so  _ good  _ he couldn’t even bring himself to care. It was like the ice that had enveloped him for so long was slowly melting away, making him shudder with delight as Shiro’s hands continued along their journey. 

“Is this ok?” Shiro asked softly, gently, carefully, and Lance couldn’t have answered if he tried. The feeling of Shiro’s skin on his… it wasn’t even  _ arousing _ ; it was just pure, unbridled  _ relief _ . He might have been crying, but he wasn’t sure because his focus was completely honed in on the feeling of warmth that sprouted from his chest. 

They lay like that for what could have been hours; not that Lance was keeping track. He fell into a sort of daze, every sensation falling away save for the feeling of Shiro’s hands on his skin and the scent of alpha that permeated the air. Still, no matter how much Shiro touched him, there was a deep layer of ice that just wouldn’t go away. It was so  _ close,  _ like an itch that Shiro was touching but not quite  _ scratching,  _ and it made Lance so frustrated because even  _ he  _ didn’t know how to get to it. 

“Shiro,” he whined, shifting restlessly. 

“What’s wrong?” Shiro asked, and the movements of his hands came to a gut-wrenching stop. Lance froze, body completely unprepared for the loss of contact, and then he  _ wailed _ . He was so overwhelmed and frustrated and upset because he was  _ so close,  _ and Shiro was  _ right there,  _ and why wasn’t he  _ doing anything— _

“Lance, calm down, you’re ok! I won’t stop, look, I’m right here. What do you need?”

Lance could only respond with a broken sob. He didn’t  _ know _ what he needed, that was the whole  _ problem. _

“Ok, that’s ok. I’m here, don’t worry. I’m— Um, I think I’m going to scent you. Omegas like that, right?” The last part was nervously whispered under his breath, and Lance would have found it absolutely hilarious if he wasn’t so desperate for Shiro to just  _ scent him  _ already. He didn’t even know that’s what he needed until the alpha suggested it, but there was no denying the new desire that sparked in his gut. It grew into a steady stream of  _ yes yes yes yes yes,  _ and he arched back in Shiro’s hold, tilting his head and exposing his scent glands for the alpha behind him. Shiro paused, scent mingling with doubt and nerves, but before Lance could give a whine of protest against his hesitation Shiro had buried his nose in the crook of Lance’s neck. 

The response was immediate. Lance felt the last sheet of ice shatter in an instant, violently pushing him over the edge and washing his body with a wave of heat. He gasped at the sensation, feeling flooding into his numb extremities in a rush, and it somehow felt like too much and not enough all at the same time. Everything went from too cold to too hot, and he saw white spots flash on the edges of his vision before everything suddenly went dark. 

*

When Lance came to, it was to the sound of soft but urgent voices just barely out of earshot. 

He lay there without moving, letting his senses come back online gradually. It was so  _ hot _ , and he could tell his body was flooded with fire and dripping with sweat and slick.

_ Ew _ . 

Somehow he’d forgotten how  _ wet  _ heats were. It was hands-down his least favorite part.

The ground was cold and hard beneath him, and it made him squirm in discomfort as sharp rocks stabbed into his sensitive skin. His eyes were glued shut from dried tears and probably sweat, but he forced his sticky eyelids to crack open in an attempt to make sense of his surroundings. 

He was still surrounded by rocks in what looked to be a cave of some sort. The rocks were an odd purple/gray—almost like earth rocks, but just weird enough to throw him off. Light filtered in dimly from what looked to be the cave entrance, dark enough that he knew it had to be either dawn or dusk. 

The voices were coming from just outside the cave entrance, and Lance didn’t have to see them to know that Shiro and Keith were the ones talking. Their scents were strong; even stronger than normal with Lance’s heat-sharpened senses in play, and it was obvious they were trying to keep Lance from sensing their anxiety. It was a good effort, although ultimately in vain because there was no way he could miss the sharp tang of alpha distress that filtered into the small cave he was lying in. 

With a quiet groan, Lance managed to roll himself into a more comfortable position. Small rocks still dug into his skin, but at least his body wasn’t quite so awkwardly splayed. He was about to try pushing himself up into a seated position when he became aware of Shiro’s scent, even stronger than before. 

“Lance! You’re awake!” 

Lance startled, turning to look at the alpha in surprise. He immediately regretted the movement, however, as his head started to spin and blackness crept on the edges of his vision. 

“Ugh,” Lance groaned, collapsing onto the purple dirt. That helped with the spinning, at least. He heard rather than saw Shiro drop to his side, and a moment later a hand carded through his sweaty hair. He leaned into the touch immediately, too exhausted and sick to feel embarrassed.

“How do you feel?” Shiro asked, voice warm and concerned. Lance cracked an eye open to pin Shiro with a glare. Sue him, he felt like crap and Shiro had left him here to lay on the rocks. 

“Not too good, huh?” the alpha said guiltily. Lance grumbled. Now he just felt like a jerk. 

“M’fine,” Lance said, turning his face away. “Tired,” he added a second later, if only to make it up to Shiro for acting like a brat.

“I bet,” Shiro said with a nod, lowering himself until he was fully seated on the hard dirt floor at Lance's side. Shiro wasn’t quite touching him, which he wanted to appreciate, but the wound tightness of his gut that was starving for human contact made it more unbearable than anything else. 

“Here. Drink this.” 

Lance opened his eyes again (when did he close them?) to see Shiro leaning over him with his emergency pouch, filled to the brim with water. He realized all at once how  _ thirsty  _ he was, and craned his neck in order to reach the pouch as Shiro held it out for him. 

“There we go,” Shiro mumbled, probably mostly to himself, as Lance gulped the water down eagerly. When he’d finally drunk his fill, he all but collapsed back against the hard ground beneath him. He was saved from an inevitable concussion when Shiro caught his head, pulling it up and laying it across his thigh. 

“Careful, bud,” Shiro said. Lance hummed in reply, too woozy to really be able to string logical thoughts together. He was still really hot, but it felt nice to be near someone. Shiro lifted a hand and ran it through his hair, and he leaned into the touch gratefully. It helped that Shiro was an alpha. His touch was just  _ better,  _ chasing the heat away as easy as breathing. And no, Lance was  _ not  _ crushing on their fearless leader, but the scent was calming all the same. It reminded him of when his older sister would help him through his heats. His biology craved the touch of an alpha; and sure, sex would be  _ nice,  _ but it was definitely not  _ necessary.  _

He let out a pleased hum, the start of a purr rumbling in his chest. Shiro’s hand suddenly stilled, and Lance waited patiently for at least five seconds before cracking an eye open in annoyance.

“Shiro,” he whined. The alpha was looking down at him with furrowed brows and a little frown, flesh hand hovering awkwardly above his head. Lance squirmed, hoping to shock the alpha into action. The frown only deepened. Lance watched sadly as Shiro's hand lowered to rest at his side.

“Lance, I know I’m an alpha, but we can’t do this. You’re not thinking clearly. Would it be easier if I left?” 

Lance blinked. Blinked again. He was pretty sure his mouth was hanging open, and not in the sexy way. Suddenly his mind was very clear.

“Shiro,  _ what?  _ I’m not— I don’t— I don’t want you to  _ fuck  _ me,” Lance finally spluttered. “I’m in heat, but that doesn’t mean I’ll jump anything that moves!” 

Now it was Shiro’s turn to splutter. “I didn’t say—“

“What do they teach you at those alpha schools, anyways?” Lance demanded, now feeling a little self-righteous. “I’m not some omega porn star that can't stop themselves from rutting against any willing alpha that happens to catch a whiff!” 

“Lance—“

”I don’t know  _ what  _ you think heats are, but I do happen to have a little bit of self-control!”

“Lance—“

“All I want is  _ cuddles!  _ Is that too much to ask for?”

“ _ Lance!” _

_ “What?!” _

Shiro is silent for a moment, and Lance takes a few heaving breaths. Tears were stinging his eyes, and he wanted to brush them away but refused to give Shiro the satisfaction. It was tense and awkward, but then Shiro gave a huge sigh, dropping his hand to card through Lance’s hair once again. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you upset,” Shiro says, looking down at him apologetically. “I don’t know anything about omegas, let alone heats. I probably came off as rude, but I promise you I didn’t mean to assume or treat you like an object or anything of the sort. I just wanted to make sure you make it through this safely.”

Oh. 

And just like that, his anger trickled away until there was nothing left but exhaustion and guilt. 

“Oh,” he said aloud, averting his eyes. A couple wayward tears slip out against his will. Curse his stupid hormones. “Sorry I overreacted. It’s just… hormones.”

Shiro smiled at him kindly, ruffling his hair. 

“No worries, kiddo. I’ll stay right here by you from now on, ok? And we can cuddle as much as you want.”

Lance sniffled pathetically. Shiro was too good for this world.

“Ok,” he said, and that was that. Shiro shifted him until he was almost in his lap, head resting heavily against Shiro’s broad chest. He ran a hand gently across Lance’s back, and in barely any time at all Lance was sound asleep. 

And then the screaming started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! You may have noticed I changed the length of this fic! I have a terrible habit of things getting away from me haha. So expect even more content in the future! Hope y'all don't mind my cliffhanger... Hehehe. Thanks for reading and please leave comments and kudos!


	4. Chapter 4

Shiro woke with a startled jerk, almost throwing a sleeping Lance off of his lap as he automatically moved to stand. Lance gave a surprised yelp, hands scrabbling for purchase as he suddenly found himself falling out of Shiro’s lap. 

“Shit,” Shiro exclaimed, grabbing a hold of the omega before he could hit the unforgiving ground below. 

Lance whined groggily, digging his fingers into Shiro's flight suit. He readjusted his grip in response, unwilling to let Lance fall, before scanning the area with his senses on high alert. He wasn’t sure what exactly had woken him, but every instinct he had was screaming ‘ _ DANGER’. _

“Lance, did—”

The rest of Shiro's words were lost to the sound of something—  _ someone _ ?— screaming at the top of their lungs. 

“Quiznak,” Shiro cursed, his voice coming out as a fearful whisper. “What was that?”

Lance didn’t respond. Shiro looked down in confusion only to find that Lance was in the thralls of his heat. His pupils were dilated into pinpricks and he was breathing heavily against the fabric of Shiro’s suit, body limp and unresponsive. 

“Shit,” Shiro mumbled, slowly lowering Lance to the floor of the cave. He whined, pulling at Shiro’s arm, but there was nothing he could do. Shiro needed to figure out what was happening. Keith was out there,  _ alone _ , and as much as he wanted to believe that this had nothing to do with him, he knew better than that. They were paladins of Voltron. Trouble seemed to flock to them like moths to a flame. It wasn’t a question of whether or not Keith was in trouble; but a question of what kind of trouble he was in.

Not good. He needed to find him. Right then, before it was too late.

“Lance, buddy, I have to— I have to go.” He wasn’t sure if Lance had heard him, but he squatted down to run a hand through his hair anyways. Lance leaned into the touch, his eyelids fluttering. Shiro swallowed. Shit. He did  _ not  _ want to leave Lance alone like this. He would be totally defenseless if anything were to happen. But at this point, he didn’t really have a choice. Keith could very well die if Shiro didn’t find him, it’s not as if he could bring Lance along with him. He should be safe in the cave. It was well-hidden, and they had enough food and water stockpiled to last the rest of Lance’s heat if it came to it.

Shiro gave one final look around the cave, eyes lighting upon the blue bayard sitting abandoned in a corner. He retrieved it, squatting back down at Lance’s side.

“Lance, here. Take your bayard.” Shiro placed the weapon in Lance’s hand, curling the omega’s fingers around the grip of the weapon. “If something comes in here, you have to shoot it, ok? I need to go find Keith, but we’ll come back as soon as we can.”

Lance seemed to focus on him then, his eyes still glazed but slightly more cognizant. His eyebrows furrowed and he gave a long, slow blink. That would have to do.

Shiro stepped away from the omega reluctantly, scrambling to put on his armor before ducking out of the shallow entryway. He wouldn’t be gone that long, maybe a day at most. And Lance would be fine. He had to be fine. They didn’t have any other options.

*

One of the planet’s big orange suns was high in the sky when Shiro emerged from the cave, blinding him momentarily before he could get his eyes to adjust. When they did, he surveyed the surrounding forestry anxiously, scanning for any movement or clues that could help him find Keith.

There was no sign of anything out of the ordinary, but he didn’t give up hope quite yet. He at least knew where Keith had been headed— down to the small stream they’d found to grab more water. 

Without another moment's hesitation, he started down the small hill towards the stream. The large trees swayed in a non-existent breeze, looking really close to Earth trees but just not quite there. A lot of things on this planet were like that. Close, but not quite. It only made him miss Earth even more. 

As he made his way down the hill, Shiro couldn’t help but let his thoughts run away from him as he imagined what had happened to Keith. Was it the Galra? Had he been captured? Was there some kind of predator that lived here that they had been unaware of? Was it already too late?

No. Shiro refused to let himself think that way. Keith was fine. He just needed to find him.

When Shiro finally reached the shores of the little stream, he surveyed the surrounding area carefully. Keith was nowhere in sight, which made his gut churn nervously. It was a simple  _ supply run,  _ for goodness’s sake. Why did these things always happen to them?

He was about to turn back and look around further upstream when a glint of metal caught his eye. Frowning, he pushed his way through the vines that surrounded the stream, occasionally having to burn through them with his Galra prosthetic.

Finally he got close enough that he could get a good look at the object. It glinted silver and red in the light, and Shiro sucked in a sharp breath of realization.

Keith’s bayard.

Shiro experienced a brief moment of breathless panic. This was not good. Keith was  _ gone,  _ gone to who knows where, and wherever he was he was completely defenseless. 

Shiro pushed away the little voice that told him Keith was most likely already dead.

“Ok,” he said aloud, voice lost amidst all the alien plants surrounding him. “This… this is not good.”

Ha. That was an understatement. But he wasn’t about to give up just yet. 

He reached out and scooped up the bayard, hefting it in his hand before attaching it to his hip. He then lowered himself to where the bayard had rested, wishing he could scent the air but settling for the use of his sight instead. His stupid nose had never been this big of an issue up until now.

Upon closer inspection, Shiro could clearly see what looked to be a long, dark hair. He frowned, lifting it into the light to study it. It was too coarse to be Keith’s, so it had to belong to something else. Galra, maybe? Did Galra shed? He didn’t know. 

He noticed then that the surrounding area looked to be littered with hair (fur?), giving him a clear trail that he could track. Relieved, he started down the pathway. He didn’t know what this was or what he was going to find, but he had to keep going. Keith’s life depended on it.

*

After hours of following the trail with no end in sight, Shiro was starting to get tired. The largest sun was high in the sky, leading him to believe it must be a little after noon on the planet. The hours of the day seemed to correspond fairly well with Earth time— typically daylight seemed to last around 10 hours. Of course according to castle time it was two in the morning, but they’d forced themselves to adapt to the planet after the first two days stranded. 

Shiro pulled one of the planet’s strange orange fruits from the sack swinging on his hip, taking a huge bite as he walked. Luckily they had no issues finding food on the planet, and the scanner that Pidge installed in their suits made it easy to tell which foods were edible and which foods weren’t. 

He almost spat out his fruit as a sudden realization hit him.

Pidge. The team.

Checking the time, he gave a tiny breath of relief. They’d be calling in around thirty minutes. He grudgingly put his helmet on over his armor, reluctant to subject himself to the heat but unwilling to miss the call when it came. 

It was another forty minutes before the unmistakable sound of static crackled in his helmet, bringing with it the fuzzy but recognizable sound of Pidge’s voice.

“Shi-... Keith, are… there?... Shiro, do… copy?”

“I copy, Pidge,” Shiro said breathlessly, refusing to slow his relentless pace. 

“Good,” she said, sounding relieved. “How’s Lance?”

“Uh, better,” he said vaguely, before jumping to the point. “Keith’s missing.”

“ _ What?  _ What do you mean Keith’s  _ missing?” _

“I don’t know what happened, Pidge. I woke up to the sound of screaming and he was gone. I’m out looking for him right now.”

There was a long pause. 

“You left Lance by himself, didn’t you?” Pidge finally said. Shiro flinched at the accusational tone. 

“I didn’t have a choice.”

“Shiro, he’s in  _ heat—“ _

“And Keith could be  _ dying,”  _ he interrupted, fear and desperation making his voice come out harsher than he intended. Pidge was silent on her end of the comms, and Shiro heaved a great sigh. “Look, I don’t like it any more than you do. But I couldn’t take Lance with me, and he’s at least safer than Keith is right now.”

“Ok,” Pidge finally relented, sounding more than a little reluctant. “I don’t like it, though.”

“Neither do I,” Shiro said with a dry, humorless chuckle. “I’m following Keith’s trail right now. There’s this… fur. I think whatever took him is shedding it.”

“Fur?” Pidge parroted, sounding interested. 

“Yeah. It’s dark, pretty long. Like maybe five inches. Coarse, too.”

“Hmm…” Pidge was silent for a moment, and Shiro found himself matching his steps to the rhythm of her keyboard clicking. He startled when she finally spoke again.

“According to our database, there are a few different native species that match the description. None of them have fur that’s five inches long, but maybe a solid two or three.”

“Ok,” Shiro said, perking up. He hadn’t even thought to check the databases. “What kinds of species are we looking at here?”

“Nothing good,” Pidge said grimly. Shiro’s heart sank. “For Keith’s sake, I hope none of these got a hold of him.”

Shiro took a deep, shaking breath. “Ok. Tell me what they are.”

“First is something called a ‘Dahbra’. The databases are pretty vague, but it looks to be some kind of giant rodent? Like a rat but with six legs. They have nasty teeth, you definitely wouldn’t want to get bit by one of those.” 

An image of Keith getting ripped apart by giant rats filled Shiro's mind, and he shuddered. “Ok. What else?”

“There’s a creature called a ‘Taresklo’. They seem to be an aquatic species. Think… Loch Ness Monster, but with fur.”

“Huh. Probably not that one, then. We aren’t near any large bodies of water,” Shiro mused, a little relieved. 

“Alright,” Pidge said. “Then there’s only one left. It’s called a ‘Skopira’, and it looks kind of like a big cat… like a panther, I guess, but it has two tails and scales along its stomach. It’s the most intelligent life-form on the planet.”

Shiro frowned. “How intelligent is it?”

“I’m not sure,” Pidge said after a short pause. “There aren’t many details in the database, and it HAS been 10,000 years since the information was updated.”

“Right,” Shiro sighed. “Ok. Thanks for the information, Pidge.”

“Of course. I’ll send all the data over to you.”

“Thanks. Also—”

The rest of his sentence was drowned out by the sound of a loud click, and then heavy breathing. Shiro paused, surprised. “Pidge?”

“Shiro...that you? What’s that noise?” The heavy breathing was still so loud, almost drowning out Pidge’s garbled reply. 

“It’s not me, Pidge. What’s going on?”

“—breaking up…talk more—”

“Pidge, come in,” he says desperately, even though he knows it’s futile. The sound of labored breathing hitched for a moment, and his heart stopped as a single, garbled word made it through his comms right before the connection ended completely. 

“Shiro…”

Shiro stopped breathing. He’d know that voice anywhere.

_ Keith. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hola! This chapter took me forever to get through, hope you enjoyed!! Please leave comments and kudos!! Xoxoxo


	5. Chapter 5

Keith was pretty sure that he had been mistaken earlier when he said that everything was going very, very wrong. Maybe their earlier plight deserved a ‘wrong’, maybe even a ‘very’ tacked onto the beginning, but the label of ‘very, very wrong’ was officially redesignated to his current situation. 

Everything was going very,  _ very  _ wrong. 

Keith took a deep breath, forcing himself to take inventory of his situation. He was laying on a hard dirt surface, purple dust clouding around him and making his eyes tear up. Every move he made caused his numerous injuries (he honestly wasn’t even sure how many he had, but the worst of it was definitely coming from his right arm) to throb in pain. It was dark; he vaguely remembered being dragged underground, and even his slightly enhanced Galra vision didn’t help him to see any better.

The cherry on top of his giant misery sundae was the fact that he was surrounded by huge, drooling, six-legged rats. 

Yeah. Not exactly first-class service around here. 

For some reason, after getting dragged by his arm across the entire jungle and pulled into an underground mess of tunnels, the rats had more-or-less left him alone. He could hear them crawling around and making odd, chirping noises that were deceptively cute-sounding (deceptively because he’d seen those rat things, and they were not even remotely cute). The not-knowing was making his nerves fry, as he focused all his energy in listening and making sure the rats didn’t attack.

The stupid things were surprisingly sneaky. You’d think with six legs and their less-than-intelligent behavior, they’d be pretty hard to miss, but no. Keith had been none the wiser that he was even being watched at the little stream until it was too late. Then he was being dragged across the jungle floor and deposited in a miserable heap with no preamble, leaving him with nothing to do but stew in his thoughts.

He didn’t know how long he’d been lying there. It could have been anywhere from three hours to three days, but he  _ did  _ know that at some point he’d managed to contact Shiro. It was… fuzzy. He’d definitely taken quite the beating, and his head had been reeling the entire time, but he was  _ pretty sure  _ he’d managed to force what was left of his helmet onto his head and butt into the tail-end of the team's communication. He wasn’t sure what he’d managed to rasp out, or if he’d even spoken at all, but hopefully it would give Shiro the message that he was alive; though maybe not for much longer. 

God. He really wished he hadn’t left to fill his stupid emergency pouch. Maybe then he wouldn’t have gotten attacked in the first place, and he’d still be at the cave with Shiro and Lance. 

Lance. Quiznak, he hoped Lance was ok. He trusted Shiro, of course, but he was all the more aware now of just how little they knew about this planet. There could be any kind of creature out there with them none the wiser, and if something were to happen to Lance because of him… 

Well, he’d never be able to live with himself. 

*

Keith startled awake, disoriented. When did he fall asleep? What was going on?

A loud hissing sound came from somewhere to his left, and he flinched away instinctively. The rats had never made that sound before. Were they angry? If so, at what?

His question was answered as he finally noticed a dim, violet light casting shadows along the cavern he was in. 

“Keith! Keith, are you in here? Can you hear me? I’m coming, don’t— ah,  _ shit!”  _

Shiros familiar voice cut off into the sound of a scuffle, and Keith’s eyes widened as he recognized the loud hissing of the rats that had previously surrounded him. Was Shiro trying to fight them off?  _ Alone?  _ Surely even Shiro wasn’t dumb enough to—

“Get off me, you stupid overgrown fleabag!” There was the familiar buzzing sound of Shiro’s arm cutting through the air, accompanied by a sharp squeal that made Keith wince. 

Yup. Shiro was dumb enough, alright.

With a stuttering gasp, Keith managed to push himself to his knees, resting there a moment as the world spun around him. He didn’t know how helpful he would be in a fight right now, but there was no way he was going to leave Shiro to fight the rats off on his own. After a moment to breath, Keith forced himself up into a squat, ignoring the screaming pain that ripped through his body. His right arm remained limp by his side, and he tried not to let that slow him down as he rose to stand on shaky legs. 

“Shiro,” he rasped, and wow his voice was basically gone. Grimacing, he took a shaky step forward, wishing he had a stick or something to lean on. His head kept spinning dangerously fast, but he refused to let that stop him. 

“Shiro,” he tried again, and this time he could hear Shiro’s slight intake of breath.

“Keith? Are you ok?” Shiro sounded panicked, and Keith forced himself to take another stumbling step forwards. 

“Sure,” he forced out between his grit teeth. He could still see the flickering violet light of Shiro’s arm, and he stumbled towards it blindly. His arm hung uselessly by his side, making him think of a dead fish. 

Ha. Dead-fish arm. Nice.

“Keith, what are you— Oh  _ shit,  _ your arm!”

Keith looked up and realized that he’d somehow made it all the way across the cavern and was now standing a mere ten yards away from Shiro. The alpha was still fighting off all the giant rats (which for some reason were still leaving Keith alone) and Keith blinked slowly as he processed Shiro’s words. His arm? What was wrong with…

Oh yeah. Dead-fish arm. 

Keith watched in morbid fascination as he flopped his arm to the side, something white and bone-looking peeking out of his skin. Huh. He didn’t think arms were supposed to do that.

“Keith, get out of here already! I’ll hold them off!”

Keith turned his attention back to the alpha, brain processing the request at the speed of molasses. Shiro wanted him to leave? He couldn’t just  _ leave  _ him here, he  _ wouldn’t— _

“I’ll be right behind you, Keith, but you have to go! Go, go, go!”

The urgency in Shiro's voice was what finally sparked his legs into motion, and he only stumbled a little as he made his way towards what he was increasingly realizing was daylight. The sounds of rats scrambling behind him gave him the motivation to keep moving when his body screamed at him to stop, and before he knew it he was dragging himself out of a wide tunnel, the feeling of fresh (albeit hot) air on his face a welcome relief. 

He didn’t know how long he lay there studying the swirls of leaves above him and dazedly noting the sticky feeling of blood on his skin before Shiro finally emerged, panting in big, heaving breaths. Keith turned his face towards the alpha and winced. 

Shiro was a little worse for wear. There was blood streaked in his white bangs, across his white armor, across his white skin (he sure had a lot of white for a black paladin). His right leg seemed to have taken a serious beating, and his Galra arm was caked with a strange, blue/black substance that Keith eventually identified as blood.

“Keith,” Shiro gasped, pushing himself up with a grimace. “Are you ok?”

Hm. That was a very good question. He settled for a maybe.

“Maybe,” he said aloud. Shiro crawled over to him, taking in the dead-fish arm and the blood and whatever else was covering him (it couldn’t have  _ all  _ been blood, there was way too much, there had to be water or rat-blood or  _ something  _ because there was  _ way too much—). _

“We have to get back to the cave,” Shiro said, face grim. Keith blinked at him, letting his words sink in for a moment before replying.

“Why?”

“Lance,” Shiro replied, though it sounded all too desperate and pained for just a single word. Keith frowned.

“He’s alone?” That was not good. He couldn’t quite remember why, but Lance was  _ not  _ supposed to be by himself at the moment.

“I had to leave him,” Shiro replied, eyes shining with guilt. “I had to find you.”

“Oh,” Keith said, sinking back into the jungle floor. Huh. 

“Let me look at your arm,” Shiro said, voice thick with worry. Keith let his dead-fish arm flop in Shiro’s direction, ignoring the sharp inhale of breath that Shiro gave at the motion.

“Wow, you are really going to regret that when the shock wears off,” Shiro muttered, scooting closer to Keith’s side and prodding his arm gingerly. He muttered something about a brace before moving away, leaving Keith to gaze up at the trees on his own. 

Now that he was thinking about it, Keith  _ could  _ feel some sort of dull throb coming from his arm. It made him shift uncomfortably, trying to readjust and get the throbbing to die down, but to no avail. He was still trying to find a comfortable position when Shiro returned with a long, straight stick in hand.

“Quit moving it, would ya?” Shiro reprimanded, swatting his left arm away from where it was cradling his limp fish one. Keith hissed as Shiro gently lifted his injured arm, carefully aligning it with the stick he found and wrapping a cloth around it to keep everything in place. 

“It’s pretty badly broken, but I think you’ll be ok. Does it hurt anywhere else?” Shiro asked, sitting back on his haunches. Keith did a quick inventory.

“My head,” he finally said, lifting a hand to touch it gingerly. Shiro forced his arm back down with a frustrated huff.

“Stop moving your arm, dingus.” Shiro said, then moved Keith’s bangs away from his face to study the skin underneath carefully. “Looks like you got a pretty bad bump there. Judging by the looks of it and the way you’ve been acting, I’d guess you got a concussion.”

“Hm,” Keith hummed, considering. That probably made sense. 

“Do you think you can walk?” Shiro asked, pinning him with his worried gaze. 

“Yeah,” Keith said without thinking. Shiro frowned.

“You sure?”

Keith hesitated a moment, thinking it over thoroughly this time. “I think I can stumble.”

“I guess that’ll have to do,” Shiro sighed, giving Keith’s fish arm a rueful glance. “I’m not sure how long my leg is going to hold out, though. I’ll keep it up as long as I can, though we might need to take a few breaks.”

Keith nodded, glancing down at Shiro’s leg. It didn’t look pretty. 

“You can lean on me,” he offered, looking at his two mostly-intact legs. “I think I can walk fine.”

“Yeah, we’ll see about that,” Shiro said with a wry chuckle, before pulling Keith to his feet in one fluid motion.

Keith could, it turns out, walk mostly by himself with Shiro draped across his left side. They only took a few stops along the way when Keith’s head was spinning too much or Shiro's leg buckled under him. There was a really handy trail of rat fur that led straight back to their little stream (apparently rats shed? Keith had no idea rats shed), and it felt like no time at all before they were finally huffing and puffing their way into the little cave. 

“Lance,” Shiro called, pushing away from Keith’s tight grip. Keith leaned against the outside wall with a heavy sigh. Strange, he still couldn’t smell Lance’s heat. “Lance, we're back! Are you alright? Keith was—“ Shiro’s voice suddenly cut off, and a low sick feeling started to spread in Keith’s gut.

Shiro reappeared at the entryway of the cave, face pale, and Keith immediately pushed off from the wall upon seeing the expression on Shiro’s face.

“He’s not there.” Shiro’s voice was hoarse. 

“Lance is gone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo!!! Thanks for reading yet another chapter!! I hope you enjoy yet another cliff hanger (I just can't stop myself?). I busted out the majority of this in like 1 day, so excuse any errors.  
> Also, I've been feeling like the way I'm writing shiro needs some clarification. Because I 100% believe that shiro is the calm, levelheaded dad thats always like "language" or whatever, but in this fic he's sworn like more than anyone else lol. My reasoning is that the poor thing is just being pushed to his very limit, so a lot of characteristics are popping out in his stress-induced state. Poor Shiro's gonna break before you know it.
> 
> But anyways, I finally planned out the rest of this fic, so the chapter length is going to officially stay where I put it lol.  
> Please leave comments and kudos, they give me life!!!! xoxo


	6. Chapter 6

Lance groaned. The world seemed to spin in a dull mirage of colors; purple mixing with grey mixing with blue and black and brown. His head was spinning and he wasn’t quite sure which way was up and which way was down, but he knew that there was a distinct lack of alpha around him. 

Lance felt his lips pull into a lazy frown. What had happened to that alpha? He remembered the cool hands on his skin, the soft touches in his hair. And the other alpha, barely there but still present, pushing waves of comfort and concern towards him. They were gone now, nothing but the lingering scent of concern reaching his sensitive nose, and he wondered why they’d abandoned him.

The faint smell of concern wasn’t the only scent he was picking up on. There was something else, faint and growing stronger. It was unfamiliar, and he whined uncomfortably. He didn’t want others at his nest (if you could even call it that). He wanted to be with his pack, to have their soothing scents surrounding him, but it was becoming more and more obvious that he’d been abandoned as his packs’ scents were nowhere to be found. 

The new scent was sour and rancid. It reminded him of his abuela’s basement, a dark, creepy space that Lance avoided at all costs. He swore he saw a rat down there once, but nobody really believed him when he tried to tell his family about it. 

His attention returned to his surroundings when he heard a loud crash followed by a hiss. The sour smell was even stronger now, and he whined again in a weak cry for help. There was no answering call, no chirps or chuffs or growls. Lance took a few moments to gather his strength before he pushed himself up into a wobbly sit. The world spun dangerously, and he closed his eyes against the feeling as his body slowly adjusted. 

Wow, he was dizzy. The sour scent was getting stronger, accompanied by strange clicks and growls, and Lance forced his eyes open in an attempt to find the source of the noises. Everything was a little too blurry, but he turned his face towards where the scent seemed to be drifting from. 

He was so focused on monitoring the sounds and scents that he almost missed it when a giant grey blur lumbered into his cave. It was the source of the noises, Lance immediately discerned, and the sour smell poured off of it in waves. He instinctively knew that this was no friend. He needed to fight. But… his head was so dizzy… he wasn’t sure he could do much of  _ anything _ in this state.

His hand clenched around something smooth and hard, and he blearily looked down to see a blue and white metal disk held tightly in his white-knuckled grip.

_ Bayard,  _ his mind supplied.  _ Weapon. _

Determined, Lance lifted the disk and felt it morph in his hands, the weight of it familiar and soothing against his racing heartbeat. His vision was a little foggy but he had the presence of mind to aim his weapon away from himself and towards the approaching grey blur. His finger pressed against the trigger painstakingly slowly, but he was rewarded with an unearthly shriek that gave him a rush of satisfaction. That is, until the blur retaliated. 

Lance felt a sharp jab of pain in his leg, and he howled as it was jerked forward violently. His mind was overtaken by the need to  _ get away,  _ but there was nowhere to go and he couldn’t fight against the strength of the creature. He gave a loud, warbling cry, an uncontrollable instinctual call for help. If any alphas had been within earshot, they would have come running. 

Nobody came.

Lance could only weakly push against the sharp teeth digging into his leg, whining miserably. His efforts were of no use though, and he hissed as he was suddenly exposed to the bright rays of the sun outside the cave. 

This was not going well. Lance felt his vision spotting, the continual stimulus too much for his heated mind to comprehend. He was on the edge of unconsciousness when he suddenly smelled something completely different. It was a scent unlike anything he’d ever smelled before— a mixture of sweet and musky and  _ dangerous,  _ but somehow it wasn’t repulsive. Actually, it felt familiar, as if he’d smelled something like it before.

Before he could consider it any longer, the creature dragged his head over a particularly sharp rock and the world went completely dark.

*

When Lance woke up, his head felt surprisingly more clear than it had the last time he’d been awake. Surprising, because he distinctly remembered bashing his head on a rock, and that kind of thing didn’t usually help clear peoples’ minds. He couldn’t deny that he was feeling really good, though;  _ great _ even. Probably better than he’d felt this whole damn mission, outside of the dull throb he felt in his right leg.

Which was a little… hm. Suspicious. 

With a growing sense of unease, Lance opened his eyes a bare crack. 

He was definitely not in the cave anymore. Instead of the purple rock he’d grown accustomed to, he was greeted by the sight of shimmering green/gold leaves dancing in a slight breeze above him. The sky was barely visible above the canopy, and Lance frowned. Where was he?

Groaning, Lance managed to push himself into a seated position. He could still feel his heat lapping at his insides, like a fire that was dying down but still not quite put out. He wasn’t naive enough to think his heat was over, he knew his body well enough to tell that this was most likely just a short reprieve. Like the eye of the storm, in a way.

His attention returned to his surroundings. There were leaves above him, and looking down he realized they were beneath him as well. Which didn’t make any sense, unless—

“Quiznak!” Lance cursed aloud, scrambling away from the edge of the  _ freaking tree branch  _ that he was sitting on. The jungle floor was so,  _ so  _ far away. How did he get up here?! 

Better question, where were Shiro and Keith?

Not good. He needed to get back to their cave. 

With an embarrassing sound that he would never admit to ever, Lance pushed himself into a shaky stand. His legs reminded him very much of the newborn calves his uncle Julio would raise on his farm in the country. Shaky and weak and utterly useless. 

Lance huffed, forcing his feet to shuffle forward a step. His right leg throbbed, and it was then he noticed for the first time that there was a strange slick coating covering a gaping wound on his shin. Which was… weird. He tentatively touched it, and his fingers came away wet with the mystery substance. 

Huh. 

Lance shook his head, refocusing on what he was supposed to be doing in the first place. Getting  _ down  _ from the stupid alien jungle tree. His leg could wait. His first priority was to find Shiro and Keith.

Lance took another few shaky steps, hissing every time his weight shifted to his right leg. His head reeled at the motion, and he paused as everything seemed to tip dangerously to one side. 

Actually, everything  _ was  _ tipping dangerously to one side.

Lance barely had time to brace himself as the rough bark of the alien branch rose up quickly to greet him. He registered the pain numbly, feeling something wet trickle down his nose, but before he could properly regain his bearings he was suddenly tipping over impossibly further. His hands scrabbled against the branch, desperately attempting to hold onto something,  _ anything,  _ but there was nothing to grasp. Lance’s stomach bottomed out as he suddenly found himself free falling to his inevitable death.

Leaves and branches whipped past him, stinging his skin and bruising him, but he couldn’t bring himself to care when the jungle floor was approaching so quickly. 

He didn’t scream. Couldn’t scream, really. All he could do was close his eyes and brace himself for—

The wind left Lance’s chest in a sudden rush, and his eyes flew open as the feeling of falling turned more into a feeling of  _ swinging _ . The jungle floor stopped rushing towards him, and Lance felt a sharp ache around his upper arms and neck from where his shirt was digging into his skin.

Because, oh yeah, he was dangling hundreds of feet above the ground by his  _ shirt. _

Panicked, Lance twisted in place, turning to at least attempt to grab hold of whatever was holding him up. He froze, however, when he came face-to-face with what was definitely  _ not  _ a tree branch, but rather a large row of sharp white teeth.

“Oh quiznak,” he breathed. The teeth seemed to grin around the fabric of his shirt. 

Slowly, Lance lifted his gaze, trailing up long teeth, long whiskers, a large nose, up up up until he was looking straight into the creature(cat? It looked like a cat)’s yellow eyes. 

“Um,” he said eloquently. The cat’s breath was hot on his skin. “Nice catch.” His voice was way squeakier than he remembered it being.

With a light growl, the cat shifted in place, lifting Lance so that he wasn’t dangling over miles of empty space and certain death. He felt the familiar roughness of bark under him once again, and he sighed in relief as his feet met the stable ground. 

The cat didn’t seem satisfied setting him on his feet, though, and Lance was shaken around in frustration a couple of times before he finally got the message and sat flat on his rear.

“Geez, you’re almost as overprotective as Blue,” Lance griped, leaning back on his elbows. The cat’s giant ears flicked in response, and Lance wasn’t sure if the creature was amused or annoyed but he decided to keep quiet just in case. The cat settled down, curling up slightly around where Lance was laying, ensuring he wouldn’t fall off the branch again. And yeah, that was probably for the best. 

Lance’s gut thrummed sharply, and he grimaced. His heat was starting to return full-force, but Lance took the dwindling opportunity of clear-headedness to study the beast that was hovering over him almost protectively. 

It was a big, cat-like creature, that much Lance had already discovered. It reminded him vaguely of a panther, or maybe a lioness. It was very much not like a lion or a panther, however, because Lance could see that it’s body (behind the big, terrifying head) was a shocking orange color. Although maybe he really shouldn’t have been surprised, seeing how literally nothing on this planet fit the “normal earth color” palette. There also looked to be sort of  _ scales  _ leading down from under the cat’s chin to the belly, beyond where Lance could see from his position. 

Lance was about to get a closer look at the  _ two tails  _ he thought he glimpsed when the cat suddenly spoke.

_ ‘Paladin.’ _

Lance froze. The cat’s mouth hadn’t moved, but he couldn’t deny for a moment that the cat had spoken to him. Like, in his  _ mind.  _ It was so familiar and motherly that he was speechless for a solid ten seconds. 

“Woah, you can talk in my head?” Lance finally blurted, gawking. “That’s so crazy, wow. I mean it’s not like I’ve never had that before, Blue does it all the time, but like it’s never happened outside of that--”

_ ‘Shh, kit,’  _ the cat said, voice tinged with amusement.  _ ‘You are injured. Rest now.” _

Lance frowned. “I can’t rest, though. My friends are out there somewhere, they’re probably looking for me.”

The cat flicked her tails in annoyance.  _ “You are injured,”  _ she insisted. Lance rolled his eyes. 

“Yeah, but like not that bad. I’m fine! Just a little dizzy, s’all.” He shot the cat his most confident, reassuring smile. She didn’t seem to buy it for a minute.

_ ‘No,’  _ she all but growled.  _ ‘Stay here. You are not ready.’ _

Lance slumped, pouting. His skin was warming to an almost uncomfortable degree, and he blinked hard against the cotton that was beginning to cloud his head. 

“What’s your name, anyways?” he said after a moment of silence. The cat’s ears twitched, and she tilted her head down to meet his eye. 

_ ‘I have many names.’ _

“Ok, but I have to call you  _ something,”  _ Lance protested. “What can I call you?”

The cat studied him for a long moment, eyes sharp and intelligent and calculating. 

_ ‘Arancia,’  _ she finally replied, settling in closer to him. Lance beamed at her in thanks.

“Arancia,” he repeated. “That’s pretty, I like it. I’m—”

_ ‘I know who you are, kit,’  _ Arancia interrupted. Lance blinked at her in surprise.  _ ‘You are a brave paladin, far away from home. You are called Lance McClain, Blue Paladin, Hero and Defender and Friend. I know much about you, kit, perhaps more than you know about yourself.’ _

“How?” Lance said, his voice uncharacteristically small. His mind was growing foggier, but he wanted to know, he  _ had  _ to know—

_ ‘Sleep, kit.’  _ Arancia said, humming low in the back of her throat.  _ ‘We shall speak when you wake.’ _

Unable to argue and equally unable to fight the heavy weights pulling on his eyelids, Lance let his eyes close and slept.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hola! Hope you all liked the new update! This fic is turning into less and less of a focus on a/b/o dynamics like I originally planned haha, but I'm still excited for where it's going! Please leave comments and kudos, comments give me life! Xoxo


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoooollllaaaa  
> I am so sorry this took so long to update haha, but thank you all for your patience! College has started up again, and that plus work and a social life is draining me of time and energy haha. I'll keep trying to update, but I wanted to thank you all for hanging in there! Hope you enjoy this update!!

Shiro was absolutely losing it. 

Everything that had happened in the last six days that they’d spent on this miserable planet seemed to rear up all at once, like a spooked horse or a tidal wave that had finally reached its peak. Up until this point Shiro had managed to hold some level of control over the increasingly stressful situation that he found himself in, but this was too much. He and Keith were badly injured, Keith was abducted and almost  _ killed,  _ and when Shiro finally managed to save one of his charges he immediately lost the other. Not only was Lance now  _ missing,  _ but he was in  _ heat  _ and there was blood smeared over the cave floor like a deadly macabre painting. 

“What do you mean he's  _ gone?"  _ Keith said, voice hinging on panicked. Shiro turned to take in the red paladin’s pale, gaunt expression. Keith was swaying on his feet, and his right arm was pulled up close to his chest. It was a mess of blood and bone, to the point where Shiro could hardly tell what kind of damage had even been done. Keith needed a pod, that was for certain, but the team was still four days out and they were still a mile or so away from the pick-up point. 

Oh, and Lance was  _ fucking missing. _

“He’s not there,” Shiro repeated, meeting and holding Keith’s eye. Somehow, Keith paled even further. 

“Well, he couldn’t have just up and  _ left,” _ Keith hissed. “He’s-- He’s in heat. Right? He can’t just-- _ run away. _ ”

“There’s blood,” Shiro choked out. Belatedly, he realized that his cheeks were wet. “Keith, there’s  _ blood.  _ I don’t-- I can’t--”

“Hey. Shiro, stop that,” Keith ordered, reaching up and yanking Shiro’s head down until they were nose to nose. Shiro focused on Keith’s face, drinking in the sight of violet speckles in his dark eyes. “Lance is going to be ok. We’re  _ all  _ going to be ok. Let’s just think this through, alright?”

Shiro made a concentrated effort to calm his breathing, giving Keith a shaky nod. 

“Good,” Keith nodded, releasing his grip on Shiro’s hair. “So where could he have gone? What could have happened?”

Shiro took a shaky breath, looking around the small cave with a more critical eye. There was blood, a  _ lot  _ of blood, and Lance’s bayard lay dripping in a small pool of it. The food supplies they’d scrounged looked mostly untouched, and everything else seemed to be in order except for--

Oh. Oh  _ fuck,  _ no.

“The rats,” Shiro breathed, closing his eyes. 

“What? What about them?”

“The rats got him, Keith; there’s  _ fur  _ in here.”

There was a moment of silence, followed by a telling thump. “Fuck,” Keith swore, voice tight with anger. “I  _ hate  _ those things.”

Shiro laughed, the sound coming out weirdly high-pitched and breathy. “He’s gonna die,” Shiro giggled. “We’re all gonna die here.”

“No, Shiro, what did I just say? We’re going to be ok, we just have to--” Keith suddenly cut off, sucking in a sharp breath. “Wait. Do you smell that?”

“Keith, for the last time--” Shiro began.

“Nevermind,” Keith cut him off, holding a hand up impatiently. “It's Lance! I can smell him, Shiro! He’s… he’s out there somewhere, I know it. We’ve gotta find him!”

Shiro sucked in a harsh breath. If Keith could smell Lance, they might be able to track him. With luck they’d find him alive and well at the end of the trail.

“Ok,” Shiro said, hope flaring in his chest for the first time since he found the cave empty. “We can do this. Can you follow his scent?”

“I... think so,” Keith said hesitantly, frowning down at Shiro’s leg and then at his arm. “We don’t really have a choice, do we?”

“No,” Shiro sighed. “But we can do this. It’s going to turn out alright.” He looked back out into the jungle, and his heart sank as he saw the blood-red swaths of light that signified the setting of the sun.

“We’re going to have to wait until morning before we head out,” he huffed, frowning. Keith growled behind him.

“We don’t have time, Lance could be in serious trouble--”

“--and we could make it worse by showing up exhausted and weak,” Shiro interrupted. “We’ll leave at dawn. I can take the first watch.”

Keith shifted restlessly for a moment, likely considering arguing further, before finally giving up and turning back to the cave. “Wake me up in a few hours,” he said.

“I will,” Shiro nodded.

It was going to be a long night.

*

The smaller, secondary sun had just crested over the horizon when they set off the following morning. It was a difficult venture, with both of them injured and exhausted, but they both knew that neither of them had much choice. Every moment that passed with Lance missing only made Shiro more anxious as to what they would find at the end of the trail.

They’d just stopped to take a quick break--one desperately needed as Shiro’s leg was throbbing violently and Keith was hardly able to stand up straight--when the helmet attached to Shiro’s hip gave a loud crackling sound.

_ “Shi--... Copy? Shiro?” _

Keith and Shiro had a moment of surprised silence where they both stared at each other in shock with their mouths hanging agape.

“The team!” Shiro exclaimed, hastily pulling the helmet away and shoving it over his head. How he still managed to forget the daily calls, Shiro had no idea.

“Pidge, do you copy?” he called frantically. Keith settled in against the tree he’d propped himself up against, letting his eyes close. Shiro allowed it, knowing that Keith was exhausted and wouldn’t be able to contribute much anyways without his helmet.

“We copy, Shiro. Are you guys ok? Have you found Keith? Is Lance alright?” Pidge sounded more scared than Shiro had ever heard her before.

“I got Keith. We’re ok,” he reassured her. There was a heavy sigh of relief. 

“Quiznak, Shiro, we’ve been scared half to death," she breathed. "You have no idea. Is Lance ok?"

Shiro hesitated. "Well…"

Pidge honest-to-god  _ growled.  _ "Shiro. Don't you  _ dare  _ tell me that Lance is  _ hurt,  _ or  _ so help me--" _

"We don't know," he said, running a hand through his hair anxiously. "He's missing."

There was a long pause, and then;

" _ Fuck,"  _ Pidge hissed. "I  _ told you,  _ Shiro, I  _ fucking told you." _

"I know, but--"

"He's out there alone and helpless and that's  _ your fault!" _

"Pidge--"

"You shouldn't have ever left him! He could be  _ dead!" _

_ "I know!"  _ Shiro snapped. Pidge cut off, a tense silence reigning over the comms. "I know," he repeated, softer. "I didn't have a choice, Pidge. Keith would have died if I didn't go to find him. We're still barely making it. Keith's arm was chewed to all hell, and my leg isn't doing too hot either. Plus Keith's got a nasty concussion, and we're running on like five hours of sleep. I'm doing my best, Pidge, but at least believe me when I say that I'm trying."

Pidge was silent for a long moment, before she let out a drawn-out sigh. 

"Ok. You're right, Shiro. I know you're trying, it's just…" Her voice tapered into a whisper. "I'm really scared."

Shiro smiled sadly to himself. Pidge had certainly come a long way. "Me too," he admitted. "But it'll be ok. We'll find him."

"I know you will. I trust you, Shiro."

And for some reason, even though Shiro had known on some level that Pidge already trusted him, trusted the  _ team,  _ the admission hit him like a punch to the gut. Tears were welling in his eyes without his permission, and he was forced to take a shaky breath to recover before responding.

"Thank you, Pidge," he said, voice coming out embarrassingly rough. "I trust you too."

"Good," she said. "So how did you end up finding Keith? Did you get to meet a giant cat?"

"I wish," Shiro sighed. He went on to tell her about the rat-creatures, explaining how he only barely managed to get Keith out of there alive. He'd just gotten to the part where they'd found Lance missing when the connection started to break.

"Be safe," Pidge said, voice distorted ever so slightly. "Bring-- back, ok?"

"I will," Shiro said with a grim confidence. "You can count on us."

Only static greeted him, and Shiro sighed before pulling his helmet off and reattaching it at his hip. He turned to where Keith was still slumped against the alien tree, a thin line of drool smeared across his chin. Shiro smiled tiredly at the sight, allowing Keith a few more precious moments of rest before reaching out to shake his shoulder.

"Keith, buddy, wake up. We gotta go."

Keith blinked his eyes open slowly, a testament to how exhausted he was. "Shiro?" he mumbled.

"Yeah, it's me. We gotta go, bud." 

Keith groaned, closing his eyes for a moment of stubborn defiance before pushing himself up into a sit.

"Ok," he said, voice still heavy with sleep. "Let's go."

Shiro pulled him up to his feet and Keith lifted Shiro's arm up over his shoulder, falling into their familiar routine with ease. 

"The team's ok?" Keith asked, successfully pulling Shiro up over a particularly obtrusive tree root.

"Yeah," Shiro said, smiling as he remembered his conversation with Pidge. That admission of trust was doing wonders for his morale. "Let's go get our boy."

*

"What do you mean this is the end?" 

Keith threw his hands into the air, turning on his heel. "I don't know, Shiro! This is where the scent leads. There’s no more sign of him beyond this point.”

Shiro felt a deep dread sink into the pits of his stomach. The scent had unexpectedly stopped at the base of one of the giant alien trees, and there was no sign of Lance anywhere. They'd spent the better part of an hour scouring the nearby foliage, but there was nothing. Shiro tried to push back the oncoming panic, but every moment that passed made his heart clench in fear that much harder.

Lance couldn’t be--

No. He wouldn’t even entertain the thought.

“We have to be missing something,” Shiro insisted, trying to ignore the way his hands were shaking. “There’s no sign of him, but he couldn’t have just disappeared.”

Keith pressed his lips into a thin line, but to his credit didn’t argue. “I’ll try looking around the surrounding trees,” he muttered, lifting Shiro’s arm off from his shoulder. “Stay here.”

Shiro settled against the thick stump reluctantly. Every passing hour made him feel more and more useless. His leg was busted, he couldn’t scent for Lance, and every decision he made seemed to bite him in the butt. Not for the first time, he wondered what Allura had ever seen in him that qualified him to be the black paladin. He didn't feel calm or collected, and he  _ certainly  _ didn't feel like a natural leader. He knew it had to have been some kind of mistake, although it was hard to argue when Black's large presence was humming in the back of his mind.

Quiznak, he missed Black.

Leaning back, Shiro let his gaze drift over the leaves rustling above him. Animals chattered in the distance, but other than that it was eerily quiet. Even Keith was far enough that Shiro couldn't hear him.

He was just considering calling for Keith to come back when his gaze was drawn by a sudden movement above him. Something orange colored flashed amidst the gold and teal leaves, and Shiro sat up with a start. Before he could get a good look, though, the creature had vanished. 

Shiro sat in slack-jawed surprise for a moment. Could that have been… Lance?

"Keith!" Shiro called, his voice echoing around the trees eerily. "Keith, get back here!"

There was a rustle from his left, and then Keith was barreling into the clearing with a shout and a drawn bayard. 

"Keith!" Shiro exclaimed, trying to pull himself to his feet.

"Shiro?" Keith questioned, looking confused at the apparent lack of a threat. "What's going on? What happened?"

"I saw something! In the trees! We have to get up there, it could be Lance!" Shiro exclaimed. He'd managed to successfully stand up on a wobbly leg, but was saved from any further embarrassment when Keith swooped under his outstretched arm and layer the limb across his shoulders. 

"Are you sure?" Keith pressed, but Shiro didn't wait another moment as he found a low-hanging branch to pull himself up onto. 

"Positive," Shiro replied breathlessly, and a spark of what looked like hope flashed in Keith's eyes. 

"Ok, then. Let's do this thing."

They found an awkward yet effective routine, somehow managing to climb up at least four layers of branches before taking a break. Between Shiro's two functioning arms and Keith's two functioning legs, they could awkwardly make their way up onto low-hanging branches with minimal pain. Shiro kept an eye on the higher branches, hoping to glimpse the orange flash again, but so far had been met only with disappointment.

They had just started climbing their fifth branch when there was a sudden shift in the air. Shiros eyes widened and he was about to shout a warning when he suddenly felt himself flying through the air. 

"Shit!" came Keith's voice from somewhere nearby. The world was a blur of gold and teal and purple and brown, but Shiro wasn't falling. No, he was being pulled  _ up, _ anchored by a long, thick limb that was wrapped around his torso. Flashes of red and black reassured him that Keith was in a similar ordeal, but before he could try to get his bearings the world suddenly stilled, and Shiro found himself face-to-face with a large, orange, cat. 

"Oh quiznak," Shiro breathed, and the cat narrowed it's eyes into a terrifying snarl before it pounced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A cliffhanger? More likely than you'd think
> 
> Comments give me life and I love to hear what you think! Thanks for reading


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hola! Long time no see :)) College is kicking my butt but is going pretty well! This chapter was born of the stress of finals week, so I hope you enjoy! It's also way longer than I meant it to be, and completely filled with fluff haha. I never write fluffy things so hopefully it turned out alright

Keith wasn’t sure what exactly had led to this precise moment. One minute he’d been climbing the tree with Shiro, and the next he was flying through the air with no idea how it even happened. 

Keith let out a sound that could have been a scream, although the breathlessness that came from being pulled through the air at reckless speeds took away the sharpness of the sound. Something thick and warm was wrapped around his torso, keeping him from falling to the unforgiving jungle floor below, and trees blurred past his vision in a confusing mixture of purple and green. Keith shut his eyes against the confusion of sight and sound, clenching his arms close to his chest to protect himself.

Finally the movement came to an abrupt stop, and Keith forced his eyes open only to come face-to-face with a giant, alien  _ cat _ . The limb that was holding him up appeared to be one of the cat’s tails, and another tail was likewise wrapped around Shiro to his left. He heard Shiro swear right before the cat let out a terrifying growl and leapt  _ up  _ into the branches, Keith and Shiro trailing behind like kites on a string. The movement was almost too much for Keith, especially with the lingering concussion he was still battling, and he squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to keep the sickness at bay. 

After far too much time, the cat finally seemed to have arrived at its destination. Keith opened his eyes and tried to focus on his surroundings, but the world seemed to tilt around him dangerously. He felt the cat lower him in a way that was almost gentle, setting him down on the rough bark of the tree. Shiro was placed beside him, and Keith weakly dragged himself closer in relief. 

“Keith, are you alright?” Shiro demanded, looking breathless and terrified. Keith nodded. 

“Yeah, I’m ok. What… what’s going on?”

“Pidge told me about these cats,” Shiro replied, looking over at the beast warily. It was perched almost elegantly, staring at them with what Keith could swear was suspicion. “Apparently they’re the most intelligent life forms on the planet.”

Keith squinted at the giant orange panther (lion?). It  _ did  _ seem to have a spark of intelligence in its shining yellow eyes. Keith felt as if he were being scrutinized, held up to some kind of invisible standard. It prickled at the back of his neck, and he frowned in the cat’s direction before shifting closer to Shiro.

“What do you think it wants?” Keith whispered, not breaking eye contact with the alien creature. He felt more than saw Shiro shrug at his side.

“I have no clue,” he replied mournfully. “We don’t have time for this, though. Lance is out there, and he’s our first priority. We have to make sure that—“

Before Shiro could finish his sentence, the cat stood in a single fluid, terrifying movement. Keith was sure that the cat’s  _ muscles _ had muscles that rippled as it stalked towards them. Keith jerked backwards, prepared to make a run for it, when he heard a voice reverberate through his mind.

“ _ Paladins of Voltron.” _

Keith froze, turning back to the cat. Shiro did the same on his side, and it was apparent that they both heard the voice speak. What was even  _ happening? _ Was the alien panther talking to them  _ telepathically?  _

_ “Do not be afraid,”  _ the voice spoke again with an almost humorous lilt, and this time Keith was watching to make sure the panther’s mouth didn’t move. 

It didn’t.

“We don’t mean you any harm,” Shiro began cautiously, ever the diplomat. “Our friend is in trouble— we just want to find him and keep him safe.”

The cat nodded its huge head in almost a motherly gesture.  _ “Yes, the blue paladin. He is safe.” _

Keith gaped for a moment before he felt a spark of frustration burst past the surprise. “Wait, what? Do you know where he is? What did you do with him? Where is he?”

_ "Peace, kit,"  _ the cat said, and this time Keith was sure he was being laughed at.  _ "The blue paladin is safe. I have protected him from the Szczur." _

"Where is he?" Keith demanded at the same time Shiro echoed "Szczur?" under his breath. The cat ignored Keith's outburst and instead turned to address Shiro.

_ "We share this planet with the Szczur,"  _ the cat clarified, and Keith felt a telepathic wave of disdain.  _ "They are no more than savage beasts. If not for my interference, the blue paladin would be dead." _

Keith didn't miss the accusatory tone in the cat's voice. He stiffened both guiltily and defensively. It wasn't  _ his  _ fault they were forced to abandon Lance, and it wasn’t Shiro’s fault either. Shiro flinched at his side, and Keith winced at the expression of pure guilt that Shiro wore. 

"I… I don't have an excuse for what I did," Shiro finally said, and Keith made a wordless sound of protest. “I thought I was doing the right thing at the time. I made a decision, and Lance paid for my oversight. All I want is to make it up to him and get him back to the team so that he can heal and be safe. That’s all I want.”

The cat studied them silently for a long moment, gaze cold and expressionless. Shiro’s head was ducked down, and Keith startled when he realized the alpha was shaking with silent sobs. 

Finally the creature moved, a sluggish shift that felt like a sigh. The two tails shifted behind it, and the cat moved aside to reveal a still figure sprawled on a soft bed of leaves. 

_ “Lance!”  _ Shiro and Keith both gasped. They ran to his side, the cat watching them warily as they dropped to either side and took in the blue paladin’s appearance.

Lance was apparently back in the thralls of his heat, as he didn’t seem to react to their presence outside of a low whine. He had a strange silvery coating over his leg, and Keith could see a deep gash underneath the goop. Lance’s face was flushed, and he reached out blindly in Keith’s direction with another whine. Keith was suddenly hit with a wave of Lance’s scent and his head began to spin rapidly. Shiro glanced up at his white complexion and his eyes flashed with alarm.

“Keith, you should go.” 

Keith nodded and had just stumbled out of the nest when the panther leaned down until her face was directly in his path.

“What-- What are you doing?” Keith asked. The cat only blinked slowly, and before Keith could demand that she move out of his way, a large pink tongue slipped out of her mouth and moved over his injured arm. Keith flinched in surprise, but the sensation wasn’t necessarily unpleasant. In fact, when the cat moved her head back, his arm felt blessedly numb. It was covered in the same silvery sheen that Keith had noticed over Lance’s leg, and he realized the cat must have some kind of healing agent in its saliva.

Gross. But also, super cool. 

“Um, thank you,” Keith said haltingly, looking back up at the cat’s giant face. She grinned, an expression that would probably be a lot less terrifying if she didn’t have so many  _ teeth. _

_ “It will also help with the smell, kit,”  _ she said, nodding in Lance’s direction.  _ “Apply the saliva to your upper lip, beneath your nostrils.”  _

Keith didn’t have the wherewithal to refuse her. Hesitantly, he scooped up some of the alien spit and smeared it beneath his nose. Deeming him healed to her satisfaction, the cat turned to Shiro and mothered over him in much the same fashion, though he insisted he didn’t need to block Lance’s scent. The cat seemed put-out that Shiro was so adamant to refuse her, but gave in after another long minute of nagging. 

“Thank you for your help, um,” Shiro hesitated, wrinkling his brow. “Wait, what should we call you?”

_ “Your blue one calls me Arancia,”  _ she said regally. Shiro nodded, proceeding to introduce both himself and Keith. She gave the telepathic equivalent of a disdainful sniff.

_ “I know your names,”  _ she said in a way that didn’t sound ominous at all.  _ “I will care for you until your pride arrives.” _

“Thank you, Arancia,” Shiro said, smiling tiredly. “We really appreciate it.”

_ “As if I would let my sisters’ kits die in my care,”  _ she scoffed, and Keith blinked in shocked confusion. 

“Your  _ sisters’—”  _

_ “I will find food for you to eat,”  _ Arancia interrupted, standing in one graceful movement. Before Keith could protest, she was gone.

Keith huffed, considering chasing after her before ultimately concluding that he would probably never find her. With luck, she’d be back soon and he could ask any question he wanted. 

Warily, he turned back to where Lance and Shiro were laying together on the pile of leaves. It was time to put Arancia’s weird alien spit to the test. Carefully, Keith climbed over Shiro into Lance’s makeshift nest, surprised by how effective the saliva really was. Lance’s scent was completely blocked out, and both he and his alpha instincts were relieved to be able to care for Lance without being in danger of hurting him. 

Keith carefully lowered himself to sit at Lance’s left, mirroring Shiro’s position on his right, but he had hardly sat down before Lance latched onto Keith’s side, burying his nose in his dirty undersuit and humming low and satisfied. One of his hands was twisted awkwardly to reach Shiro’s human hand, and their fingers twined together in a way that didn’t seem very comfortable. It seemed to make Lance happy, though, so neither Keith or Shiro dared attempt to readjust their position. Carefully, Keith scooted closer so that Lance wasn’t quite so awkwardly splayed, and they ended up in a mini cuddle pile with Lance at the center. It was almost reminiscent of the beginnings of Lance’s heat when they’d kept him from freezing, but this was under much better circumstances.

“I’ve never been around an omega in heat before,” Keith whispered nervously, afraid to wake up the omega in his arms. Shiro chuckled quietly. 

“I hadn’t either until Lance,” he replied. “He’s very calm, though, at least calmer than I expected. He told me he just really likes cuddling.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Keith said fondly. “He’s ridiculous.” 

“Yeah,” Shiro chuckled. He carded his fingers through Lance’s hair, a gesture that spoke of familiarity, and they both startled when Lance made a loud sound, almost as if he were—

“Is he  _ purring?”  _ Shiro asked, eyes wide as his hand froze in Lance’s hair. The noise stopped and Lance’s brows furrowed, his lips twisting into a little pout. Keith gaped at him. 

“I— I think so? Wait, touch his hair again,” Keith demanded, shifting closer to see Lance’s face better. Shiro resumed his petting, and Lance’s face softened immediately. It was only another few seconds before Lance was purring again, practically shaking with how loud the vibrations were. 

_ “Oh my god,”  _ Keith gasped, a hand clutching his chest. “That’s so cute. I didn’t know omegas could purr!?” 

“I didn’t either,” Shiro replied, face still set in gleeful shock as he listened to Lance’s throaty rumble. They were about to see just how loud they could get Lance to purr when Arancia suddenly reappeared, mouth full of a disgustingly bloody  _ something.  _

_ “Food, kits,”  _ she announced, sounding altogether too proud of herself. She dropped the carcass at the edge of the nest, looking at them expectantly. Blood clung to the fur under her chin. 

“Arancia,” Shiro started hesitantly, but Keith interrupted whatever he was about to say.

“We can  _ not  _ eat that.”

_ “Keith!” _

Arancia looked confused.  _ “You can not eat? What is wrong?” _

“We can eat—” Shiro began, but Keith interrupted once again.

“—We just can’t eat  _ raw, bloody meat,”  _ he growled. “We’re human, that would make us sick.”

Arancia appeared to be alarmed at the very idea.  _ “Sick?” _

“...Yes,” Shiro replied grudgingly, glaring at Keith. “Raw meat isn’t healthy for humans.”

_ “What can humans eat, then?”  _ Arancia demanded, looking appalled.

“We’ve been eating fruit since coming to this planet,” Keith shrugged. “We can eat meat if it’s cooked, just not raw.”

Arancia’s nose crinkled, a ridiculous look for a 15 foot alien cat. 

_ “I will find fruit, then,”  _ she said begrudgingly. She leapt into the trees and appeared a few minutes later, a bundle of familiar fruits hanging from her mouth. She dropped them into the nest disdainfully, and Keith took it upon himself to feed Lance, something his alpha instincts preened at. It was a bit messy with fruit juices everywhere, but he managed to get the fruit separated into small enough chunks that Lance probably wouldn’t choke. Arancia watched them with a critical eye, obviously disgusted by their choice in diet.

Keith shook Lance lightly, trying to get him to wake up enough to eat. “Hey, Lance, you’ve gotta eat something,” he said gently, tipping Lance’s chin in his direction. Lance’s eyes fluttered and he whined softly. Keith decided to take that as an agreement. 

Gently, he pressed a bite of fruit to Lance’s lips and watched in delight as his lips parted, allowing Keith to press the fruit into his mouth. Lance chewed drowsily, humming in what Keith hoped was enjoyment. 

“Ready for another?” he asked after Lance had swallowed, pressing another bite to Lance’s lips. Lance opened his mouth obediently, and Keith pushed the fruit in. Lance chewed happily, but before Keith could withdraw his hand, Lance’s small pink tongue darted out to lap at the juices that still dripped from his fingers. 

_ “Lance!”  _ Keith jerked his hand away, face bright with a vibrant blush. “No! Don’t  _ do  _ that!”

Shiro roared with laughter from Lance’s other side, and Keith glared at him hotly. 

“It’s not funny,” he grumbled. 

“It’s a little funny,” Shiro argued, grinning cheekily. 

“Whatever,” Keith huffed, turning back to Lance with another piece of fruit in hand, careful to keep his fingers out of licking distance.

*

Lance was happily asleep between Keith and Shiro when Keith finally remembered to ask Arancia about what she’d said after bringing them the bloody carcass. 

“Hey, Arancia, what was it that you were saying earlier? About taking care of your sisters’ kits or whatever?” Keith saw Shiro shift out of the corner of his eye, peering up at Arancia with interest. Arancia, on the other hand, stilled. Her tails that were always swaying to one side or another froze behind her, and she gave a telepathic sigh.

_ “This is a long story, kit,”  _ she said, sounding reluctant. 

“We’ve got time,” Keith shrugged. “There’s still another day or two before the team gets here.”

Arancia huffed out a breath, dipping her head to their level. 

_ “I suppose that is true,”  _ she said.  _ “I will tell you the story of my sisters.” _

Keith grinned, snuggling into Lance’s side more firmly. Lance tightened his grip on Keith’s arm subconsciously, puffing hot breath against his neck.

_ “Many, many of your earth years ago— before humans even existed— there were many of us on this planet,”  _ Arancia began.  _ “I lived among my sisters and brothers, and we became very strong and wise. We were a peaceful race, and though many peoples of many planets and races begged us to help them in their petty wars, we were unmoved by their pleas.  _

_ “My people continued this way for many turns of the star, until eventually we received a visitor unlike any other.” _

“Galra,” Keith spat, familiar with the story that had happened over and over again to so many other planets. 

_ “No, kit,”  _ Arancia denied, shaking her head, and Keith perked up in surprise.  _ “This visitor was Altean.” _

“Altean?” Shiro repeated. His eyes were wide and shocked.

_ “Yes,”  _ Arancia said with a slow, deep nod.  _ “He called himself Alfor, king of the Altean race. He spoke of grand things, tall promises of glory and fame and the power to protect the weak. He was in need of warriors; volunteers that would sacrifice everything in order to protect the universe. _

_ “Five of my sisters were more daring than the rest of our people, and they were determined to help this strange Altean. My people fought against our sisters for many moon cycles, but they were beyond reason. We could do nothing but watch them leave, and they were never heard from again.”  _ She paused then, looking them over.  _ “Until eight cycles ago, that is.” _

“Wait,” Keith frowned. “Are you saying that… our lions came from  _ here?”  _

Arancia dipped her head in a grave nod.  _ “My sisters chose to leave us, and I have grown to accept their decision. My people, however, have a very long memory. When my sisters left their home they agreed to never return, and their reappearance is a transgression punishable by death.”  _

“You can’t do that!” Keith exclaimed. “We need the lions to form Voltron! We’re the only thing stopping the Galra from destroying every planet in the universe!”

_ “I understand, kit,”  _ Arancia said reassuringly.  _ “I have forgiven my sisters and do not begrudge them their liberty. I will do them no harm, and intend to protect them from my people if the situation arises.” _

Keith relaxed at Arancia’s words, glad that his lion wasn’t in any danger. And  _ wow,  _ that was quite the concept. He had a difficult time imagining his lion as a creature with flesh and blood and  _ fur  _ like what Arancia had. It was humbling, almost, to realize that Red had been through so much already and had existed independently outside of Voltron.

“Where are the rest of your people?” Shiro asked.

_ “Scattered across the planet,”  _ Arancia replied easily.  _ “You are lucky that I was the closest one when my sisters crashed. If my pride had seen your lions, they certainly would have attacked immediately.” _

Keith shuddered at the thought. At least he knew now why their lions had immediately left them here after landing. Keith had felt betrayed for their entire stay on this miserable planet, but he felt a little better knowing that Red at least had a good reason.

“Thank you, Arancia,” Keith said after a long pause. “We really appreciate you helping us.”

_ “It is my pleasure, kit. I wish I had been brave enough to support my sisters when it mattered, but I will do what I can to rectify my mistakes.” _

Keith smiled, snuggling closer to Lance’s side. Arancia shifted closer until she was tucked around them in a big furry loop, and Keith relaxed into the warmth of her soft fur against his back. And for the first time since arriving on this stupid planet, he finally felt safe. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only one chapter left, folks! I hope you liked the background story I added for the lions-- I felt kinda clever for that haha. Thanks for reading, please leave comments and kudos and let me know what you think! xoxo


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